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Poems    and    Essays    of 
ANNIE  M.  L.JPEBOER 

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"GLAD   TIDINGS    OP    THE    DAWN" 


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Poems  and  Essays  of 
ANNIE  M.  L.lDeBOER 

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"Glad  Tidings  of  the  Dawn' 

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"The  Words  of  Wisdom  are  chance  pearls, 
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COPYRIGHT  1920 
By   ANNIE   M.    L.    DeBOER 


LIFE'S  IMMORTALITY 

Never  the  spirit  was  born ;  the  spirit  shall  cease  to 

be  never; 
Never  was  time  it  was  not ;  end  and  beginning  are 

dreams ; 
Birthless  and  deathless  and  changeless   remaineth 

the  spirit  forever ; 
Death  hath  not  touched  it  at  all,  dead  though  the 

house  of  it  seems.  _Bhagavad-Gita. 

For  centuries  the  question,  what  am  I,  whither 
am  I  going,  and  what  shall  I  be1?  have  thrilled 
human  hearts  and  dominated  human  thought. 

Clement,  an  illustrious  Roman  and  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  Christian  Church,  in  speaking  of 
himself  has  told  the  story  of  the  world's  seeking: 

"From  my  earliest  youth,  doubts,  of  whose  origin 
I  was  uncertain,  perplexed  me.  Shall  I  exist  after 
death  no  longer,  and  will  no  one  bestow  a  thought 
upon  me  while  ceaseless  time  is  burying  all  human 
things  in  forgetfulness  ?  Will  it  be  the  same  with 
me  as  if  I  had  never  been  born?  When  was  the 
world  created,  and  what  existed  before  the  world 
was?  If  it  existed  from  eternity,  then  it  will  be 
everlasting.  If  it  had  a  beginning  it  will  also  have 
an  end.  And  what  will  there  be  after  the  end  of 
the  world,  unless  the  stillness  of  death  ?  Or  per- 
haps there  will  be  something  which  it  is  now  im- 
possible to  think  of. 

"Having  been  troubled  with  such  thoughts  from 
my  youth,  I  frequented  the  schools  of  the  philoso- 
phers in  order  to  discover  something  certain ;  but  I 
saw  there  little  else  than  the  advancement  and 
destruction  of  theories — controversies  and  counter- 
controversies — first,  the  proposition  was  demon- 
strated, and  believed,  that  the  soul  is  immortal ; 
then  again,  that  it  is  mortal.  When  the  first  pre- 
vailed, I  rejoiced;  but  when  the  other,  I  was 
dispirited. 

"Thus  was  I  driven  about  by  opposing  proposi- 
tions, and  was  at  last  compelled  to  admit  that 
these  things  did  not  appear  in  their  true  light,  but 
only  as  they  were  presented  by  the  opposing  views 
of  different  persons.  I  was  then  seized  with  a 
greater  perplexity  of  mind,  and  groaned  from  the 
very  depth  of  my  soul." 

He  then  determined  to  travel  to  the  land  of 
mysteries  and  search  out  in  Egypt  a  magician  who 
would  conjure  up  for  him  a  .spirit,  thinking  thus  to 
secure  satisfactory  evidence  of  the  immortality  of 
the  soul,  but  a  friendly  philosopher  withheld  him 
from  thus  seeking  the  truth  by  the  practice  of  "the 
unlawful  art",  fearing  that  he  might  never  again 
enjoy  peace  of  mind. 

Socrates,  the  philosopher,  and  greatest  sage  the 
world  has  ever  known,  avowed  his  despair  of 

—  3  — 


ever  discovering  a  solution  by  the  aid  of  reason's 
light  alone,  while  he  whispered  a  hope  that 
some  messenger  might  come  to  earth  who  might 
bring  some  light  on  the  immortality  of  the  soul. 
Long  years  after,  there  appeared  one  greater  than 
Socrates,  who  proclaimed  himself  a  Messenger  of 
Life  and  Immortality,  but  the  same  scorn  that  de- 
stroyed the  philosopher  rejected  the  Christ,  and 
the  great  majority  of  mankind  are  waiting,  like 
Clement  of  old,  to  hear  the  voice  of  some  loved 
who  has  passed  to  the  "Unknown  Land."  Although 
the  so-called  dead  are  not  dead  at  all,  they  are 
nevertheless  separated  from  the  living  by  the  bar- 
riers that  the  material  or  physical  world  maintains. 
They  may  be  ever  near  us,  but  we  are  not  conscious 
of  their  presence,  and  our  voices  must  call  in  vain 
for  their  manifestation  upon  physical  planes  of 
consciousness.  Only  in  the  realms  of  occult  science 
may  the  living  enter  into  communication  with  the 
astral  world,  but  the  pathway  of  adeptship  is 
beset  with  danger  for  any  but  the  divine  teachers 
and  Saviors  of  the  World,  whose  help  we  may  as 
freely  implore  for  the  so-called  dead  as  for  the 
living,  and  just  as  we  find  our  power  of  friendly 
help  not  altogether  limited  to  our  own  order  of 
being,  so  higher  and  holier  beings  possess  in  fuller 
fruition  those  privileges  of  communion  which  are 
so  helpful  to  us  here.  When  our  spirits  are 
attuned  to  the  spirit  of  righteousness,  our  prayers 
and  aspirations  exert  an  influence  far  beyond  our 
conscious  range  and  bring  us  into  communication 
with  the  invisible  helpers  of  the  world. 

Leaving  the  realms  of  the  astral  worlds  to  those 
more  fitted  than  ourselves  to  look  beyond  the  veil 
and  grapple  with  the  mysterious,  may  we  not  in 
the  light  of  twentieth  century  knowledge  form  an 
intelligent  hypothesis  for  an  unquestioning  belief 
in  the  immortality  of  the  soul? 

Materialistic  science  maintains  that  the  universe 
is  the  result  of  natural  forces,  and  that  man  him- 
self is  purely  the  result  of  evolution,  but  science 
has  failed  to  detect  a  transition  from  the  lifeless 
to  the  living.  Wherever  there  is  life  it  has  been 
evolved  from  pre-existing  life,  and  no  forces  of 
nature  have  been  found  adequate  to  produce  out 
of  inorganic  matter  the  chemical  compounds 
which  make  up  living  cell,  and  to  group  them  into 
organs  and  bodies  endowed  with  the  functions  of 
life,  but  the  gulf  between  the  living  and  the  dead 
has  been  bridged,  and  this  proves  the  existence  ^of 
a  power  greater  than  nature. 

There  are  multitudes  of  beings  lower  in  the  scale 
of  existence  than  man.  Life  exists  in  every  variety 
of  animal,  in  the  earth,  the  air  and  the  sea, 
and  in  every  species  of  plants,  and  in  all  stages 
of  development,  life  is  the  result  of  a  countle&o 
number  of  preceding  efforts.  Human  life,  the  very 

—  4  — 


flower  of  evolution  on  the  planet  earth,  reaches 
back  into  the  remotest  eternity  of  time. 

If  evolution  has  by  an  eternity  of  effort  brought 
man  to  his  present  stage,  which  while  the  highest 
type  of  evolution  on  this  earth,  is  not  yet  such  a 
vehicle  as  the  soul  would  desire,  is  it  not  reason- 
able to  conclude  that  the  process  of  evolution  will 
be  continued  until  that  has  been  completed  which 
has  been  begun  ^ 

If  our  human  life  is  a  result  it  is  a  promise  also, 
and  as  the  soul  has  made  use  of  all  the  past,  so 
must  the  soul  make  use  of  all  the  future,  for  while 
man  is  the  highest  of  all  the  dwellers  on  the  planet 
earth,  the  earth  is  only  one  of  the  planets  warmed 
by  the  sun  and  the  sun  only  one  of  a  myriad  of 
similar  suns,  which  are  so  distant  that  they  group 
as  stars,  and  may  we  not  believe  that  in  some  of 
the  innumerable  worlds  there  are  beings  far 
higher  in  the  scale  of  evolution  than  ourselves  *?  As 
our  little  planetary  system  is  but  the  innermost 
reaches  of  the  illimitable  universe,  and  as  sun 
after  sun  and  constellation  after  constellation 
reach  on  and  on  in  a  complexity  of  systems  so  vast 
that  only  the  mind  of  God  has  power  to  grasp 
the  complexity  of  it  all,  so  only  God  may  know 
the  capacities  and  possibilities  of  an  immortal  soul. 
*  *  * 

The  soul  of  man  contains  both  the  past  and  the 
future.  We  are  part  of  the  first  cause  which 
originated  all  things  and  which  leads  through 
every  experience  and  transformation  to  the  end 
that  was  ordained  for  the  beginning.  Each  specK 
of  protoplasm  originating  in  the  womb  of  Infinity 
held  within  itself  all  the  potentialities  of  the  im- 
mortal soul.  Step  by  step  and  round  by  round  in 
the  endless  cycles  of  evolution,  the  soul  is  unfold- 
ing its  possibilities  and  powers.  Eternity  has  time 
enough  for  the  full  development  of  every  latent 
talent ;  and  through  his  every  growing  spiritual 
power,  man  is  drawing  ever  nearer  to  the  divine 
fulfillmnet  of  his  immortal  destiny. 

If  materalistic  science  cannot  explain  the  origin- 
ation of  life,  no  more  can  such  science  explain  the 
law  of  gravitation,  the  law  of  motion  as  against 
the  natural  forces  of  nature  that  tend  to  rest  and 
inaction.  No  one  knows  why  a  stone  falls  to  the 
ground,  nor  why  it  falls  sixteen  feet  in  the  first 
second ;  no  one  knows  why  frost  crystals  are  sym- 
metrical nor  why  the  rose  is  red  and  the  violet 
blue,  and  science  cannot  explain  human  intelli- 
gence and  the  existence  of  the  immortal  soul  with 
its  capacity  for  joy  and  sorrow,  its  deep  wells  of 
affection,  and  hope  of  immortality ;  therefore,  ma- 
terialistic science  does  not  accept  the  immortality 
of  the  soul. 

Is  is  consistent  to  believe  that  this  body  of  ours 
when  consigned  to  the  elements  shall  live  again  in 

'      —5  — 


leaf  and  flower,  in  plant  and  tree,  but  that  our 
human  intelligence  and  love — all  that  has  made 
life  beautiful  and  worth  while — shall  at  the  death 
of  the  body  pass  into  oblivion  and  cease  to  exist 
forever"? 

Between  the  infinite  past,  when,  as  science 
maintains,  there  was  no  life,  and  the  infinite  future 
when  there  will  be  no  life,  the  moment  of  the 
present  emerges,  a  moment  only,  though  measured 
by  millions  of  years.  In  this  moment  of  time,  man 
as  a  child  of  the  dust  has  painfully  developed  so 
far  as  to  become  conscious  of  the  difference  be- 
tween right  and  wrong.  He  knows  that  good  is 
that  which  promotes  development  and  is  in  har- 
mony with  health,  beauty  and  happiness,  and  he 
learns  to  recognize  evil  as  that  which  retards  and 
frustrates  development,  and  is  akin  to  disease,  ugli- 
ness and  misery ;  therefore,  he  is  said  to  possess  a 
soul  and  a  hope  of  immortality,  but  to  what  pur- 
pose— to  what  end  ? 

It  is  said  by  a  modern  scientist  that  our  earth 
has  been  destroyed  many  times  by  the  power  of 
radium.  Radium  emanations  have  been  found  in 
springs,  in  the  air,  in  rocks,  etc.,  and  this  has  given 
rise  to  his  theory  regarding  the  evolution  of  the 
worlds.  He  says  scientists  have  deduced  that  if 
the  earth  contained  only  two  parts  radium  per  mil- 
lion million,  this  minute  quantity  would  raise  the 
temperature  of  the  earth's  core  1800  degrees  in  100,- 
000,000  years,  there  being  no  escape  for  the  im- 
prisoned heat.  He  argues  that  as  the  ages  roll 
by,  the  interior  of  the  earth  must  become  hotter 
and  hotter,  until  finally,  after  millions  of  millions 
of  years,  the  crust  may  give  way  to  the  heat  within, 
and  the  bursting  earth  go  up  in  flames,  becoming  a 
burning  gas  ball,  just  as  our  sun  appears  today. 
This  he  calls  the  incandescent  age.  After  another 
ten  million  years  the  incandescent  earth  will  have 
expended  all  its  heat  into  space  by  radiation  and 
gradually  will  cool.  A  new  crust  then  begins  to 
form.  This  is  seen  at  present  on  Jupiter  and 
Saturn.  Thus  he  argues  that  worlds  do  not  die, 
but  slowly  pass  from  one  stage  to  another,  in  an 
endless  cycle. 

If  this  theory  is  true,  where  then  has  been  the 
soul  of  man,  and  what  record  has  been  kept  in 
the  archives  of  eternity  of  his  intellectual,  moral 
and  spiritual  progress?  In  the  wreck  and  dissolu- 
tion of  worlds  are  souls  annihilated,  and  has  God 
no  record  of  the  universe — no  link  to  bind  the  past 
with  the  present  and  the  future  *? 

If  the  soul  may  not  live  again  in  another  life, 
in  another  world,  why  is  it  made  greater  than  this 
world  ?  Why  should  the  soul  desire  immortality 
if  that  desire  may  not  be  satisfied*?  We  like  to 
think  of  ourselves  as  living  after  millions  of  year.-, 
and  sometimes  in  moments  of  exaltation  we  dimly 


remember  that  we  have  always  existed,  in  fact  we 
believe  that  we  are  immortal.  Why  then  should 
we  be  tantalized  by  a  dream  that  is  only  a  dream? 
We  may  promise  ourselves  a  limited  existence  after 
this  life,  but  we  will  not  be  satisfied — the  soul  can 
accept  nothing  short  of  eternity.  This  eagerness 
with  which  we  look  beyond  the  present  to  the 
future  is  a  promise  of  immortality.  The  soul  is 
never  satisfied,  and  if. we  are  not  heirs  of  immor- 
tality, then  we  are  too  divine. 

In  all  the  ancient  mysteries  is  beautifully  sym- 
bolized a  belief  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul.  In 
autumnal  decay,  in  wintry  darkness  and  buried 
seed,  in  opening  bud,  and  summer  light  and  ripen- 
ing fruit  is  symbolized  the  fate  of  man.  In  the 
Mystical  Hymns  of  Orpheus  is  a  hymn  to  Adonis 
in  which  he  is  likened  to  the  sun,  sinking  to  Tar- 
tarus, the  black  abyss  under  the  earth — the  realm 
of  the  dead — then  rising  again  to  Heaven,  the 
bright  expanse  above  the  earth  which  was  the 
realm  of  the  living.  When  he  rises,  all  things 
rejoice  in  his  smile ;  when  he  sinks  nightly,  sky  and 
earth  wrap  themselves  in  mourning. 

Thus  the  human  destiny  was  symbolically  in- 
terwoven with  nature.  Aphrodite,  bewailing  the 
death  of  Adonis,  is  nature  mourning  for  departed 
man.  Every  autumn  Persephone,  symbol  of  the 
buried  grain,  was  carried  down  to  the  dark  realm 
of  shadows,  from  whence  she  returned  each  spring, 
becoming  the  "Queen  of  the  Dead."  Thus  the 
changes  of  nature  typified  the  changes  in  the  hu- 
man lot,  and  the  earliest  immagination  of  man 
was  concerned  with  the  immortality  of  the  soul. 

Socrates  tried  to  explain  the  desire  for  immor- 
tality in  the  hypothesis  of  the  soul's  pre-existence 
to  that  of  the  body  in  the  bosom  of  the  Absolute, 
the  Infinite,  the  Eternal.  The  ideas  which  Socrates 
held  to  be  universal,  and  of  primary  importance, 
were  those  of  Equality,  Justice,  Goodness,  Beauty, 
etc.,  and  he  held  that  the  world  could  not  have 
been  made  beautiful  if  there  had  not  existed  a  pri- 
mary conception  of  beauty.  We  must  acknowledge 
that  mind  has  always  existed,  or  something  must 
have  arisen  out  of  nothing.  That  we  do  not  all 
remember  a  previous  existence  is  no  proof  against 
our  having  had  a  previous  existence.  Sometimes 
even  in  this  life  our  recollection  of  certain  events 
is  blotted  out  and  sometimes  the  memory  suddenly 
returns  of  events  that  have  not  crossed  our  minds 
for  years.  May  we  not  conclude  that  the  time  will 
come  when  we  will  be  enabled  to  recall  the  events 
of  many  lifetimes,  when  the  aggregated  experience 
will  lead  to  a  fuller  comprehension  of  God's  Great 
Eternal  Plan ;  and  when  we  more  fully  compre- 
hend will  we  not  be  more  sympathetic  and  compas- 
sionate toward  those  intelligences  who  are  yet  not 
as  highly  evolved  as  ours*? 


The  kind  of  immortality  imagined  by  Socrates 
was  that  of  metempsychosis  or  endless  progres- 
sion. This  theory  has  been  attributed  to  Pytha- 
gorus,  but  in  an  old  Philosophy  of  Ancient  Greece 
we  find  the  following: 

"Herodotus  affirms  this  tenet  to  have  been  first 
taught  by  the  Egyptians,  and  from  them  communi- 
cated to  the  Greeks,  although  some  of  his  country- 
men assumed  it  as  their  own  invention.  It,  was,  as 
he  understood  it,  to  this  purpose ; — that  the  human 
soul,  for  the  sake  either  of  punishment  or  purga- 
ation  frcin  corporeal  attachments,  was  ordained  to 
roll  through  all  the  varieties  of  animal  bodies, 
whether  those  of  the  earth,  or  of  the  water,  or  of 
the  air;  and  having  completed  its  -course  of  such 
vicissitudes,  in  the  space  of  three  thousand  years, 
it  then  returned  to  inanimate  bodily  form.  But 
this  doctrine,  or  what  was  similar  to  it,  was  by  no 
means  peculiar  to  the  Egyptians.  It  obtained  among 
the  Celtae  of  Gaul,  whose  Druids  taught  that  the 
human  soul  did  not  perish,  but  passed  from  one 
body  to  another ;  and  held  also  this  general  prin- 
ciple, that  all  things  which  were  in  existence, 
although  changeable  in  their  corporeal  forms,  re- 
tained still  their  distinct  natures  or  essences.  The 
immortality  of  the  soul  was  the  boasted  principle 
of  the  Scythian  Getse,  who  got  their  particular 
denomination  from  it;  and,  together  with  that  of 
the  transmigration,  was  generally  spread  amongst 
the  eastern  nations,  as  the  common  doctrine  of 
their  philosophers." 

The  ancient  Egyptians  had  a  conception  of  a  re- 
volt and  battle  among  the  gods,  when  the  defeated 
deities  were  thrust  out  of  heaven  and  shut  up  in 
prison  bodies  of  flesh.  Life  was  a  pennance,  neces- 
sarily repeated  in  order  to  be  effectual. 

In  the  ancient  Celtic  mysteries  established  at 
Samothrace  and  observed  by  the  Druids,  the  ap- 
plicant was  led  through  a  series  of  scenic  repre- 
sentations "without  the  aid  of  words,"  which  sha- 
dowed forth  in  symbolic  forms,  the  transmigration 
of  souls.  He  assumed  the  shape  of  a  grain  of 
wheat,  a  tree,  a  rabbit,  a  hen,  a  horse,  etc.  He 
died,  was  buried,  and  was  born  anew,  rising  from 
a  dark  confinement,  which  symbolized  a  tomb,  to 
life  again.  The  heirophant  then  put  him  in  a  lit- 
tle boat  and  set  him  adrift,  pointing  to  a  distant 
rock  which  was  called  "The  Harbor  fo  Life,"  and 
across  the  stormy  waters  he  sought  to  gain  the 
beckoning  refuge.  * 

The  doctrine  of  the  Ancients  in  regard  to  the 
endless  progression  of  the  soul  is  not  refuted  in 
the  Christian  doctrine  of  immortality,  for  Paul's 
idea  of  a  future  life  was  not  that  of  the  resur- 
rection of  the  same  body,  but  that  of  the  soul  from 
one  body  to  another — from  one  "corruptible  body" 


to  "an  incorruptible  body",  from  an  earthly  body 
to  a  celestial  body,  and  the  process  of  regeneration 
— or  reincarnation,  if  you  please — was  likened  to 
that  of  the  vegetations  of  the  seed,  "for  that  which 
thou  sowest  is  not  quickened  except  it  die." 

There  are  many  instances  in  the  Christian  Scrip- 
tures which  show  that  a  belief  in  reincarnation  was 
received  among  the  Jews.  It  is  recorded  that  as 
Jesus  was  passing  near  Siloam  with  His  disciples 
He  saw  a  man  who  had  been  blind  from  his  birth, 
and  the  disciples  said  to  Him :  "Master,  who  did 
sin,  this  man  or  his  parents,  that  he  was  born 
blind  ?"  When  Herod  heard  of  the  miracles  of 
Jesus,  he  said:  "This  is  John  the  Baptist,  whom  I 
beheaded ;  he  is  risen  from  the  dead,  and  therefore 
mighty  works  are  wrought  by  Him."  At  another 
time,  Jesus  asked  His1  disciples  whom  the  people 
thought  He  was,  and  they  replied :  "Some  think 
thou  art  John  the  Baptist,  some  Elias,  and  some 
Jeremiah,  or  some  other  of  the  old  prophets,  a 
forerunner  of  Messiah." 

Then  Jesus  asked  : 

"But  who  think  ye  that  I  am  ?" 

And  Simon  Peter  said :  "Thou  art  the  promised 
Messiah  himself"  for  there  was  a  tradition  among 
the  Jews  derived  from  the  words  of  the  Prophet 
Malachi,  that  before  the  Messiah  was  received, 
Elias  would  appear  and  proclaim  His  coming. 
Therefore  when  the  disciples  recognized  Him  as 
the  Christ  they  were  confused  in  regard  to  the 
prophecy  and  asked  the  Master:  "Why  do  the 
scribes  say  that  Elias  must  first  come,  and  He 
replied,  in  substance :  "It  is  even  so,  the  prophet's 
words  shall  not  fail ;  they  are  now  fulfilled,  but 
you  do  not  understand.  It  does  not  mean  that  the 
ancient  prophet  will  appear  again  in  the  same 
physical  body,  but  one  in  his  spirit  and  power 
shall  go  before  me  ;  John  the  Baptist  is  the  Elias 
which  is  to  come." 

Of  all  the  parables  of  the  Christ,  the  most  im- 
pressive one — the  one  fraught  with  deepest  mean- 
ing— is  the  following  one : 

"So  is  the  kingdom  of  God,  as  if  a  man  should 
cast  seed  into  the  ground  and  the  seed  should 
grow  up,  but  when  the  fruit  is  ripe,  he  putteth 
in  the  sickle,  because  the  harvest  is  come." 

Thus  we  are  sown  in  this  world  to  ripen  and  be 
harvested  and  garnered  in  another  world  and  in 
another  sphere  of  being.  And  in  the  beautiful 
assurance  to  his  disciples.  "In  my  father's  house 
are  many  mansions,"  we  may  conceive  of  the  uni- 
verse as  one  vast  house  of  many  rooms  or  man- 
sions. We  may  pass*  from  one  room  to  another, 
and  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes  probably  had  this 
beautiful  conception  or  symbol  of  Jesus  in  mind 


when  he  wrote  The  Chambered  Nautilus,  in  which 
the  closing  stanza : 

Build  thee  more  stately  mansions,  O  my  Soul, 

As  the  swift  seasons  roll — 

Leave  thy  low  vaulted  past 

Let  each  new  mansion,  nobler  than  the  last, 

Shut  thee  from  Heaven  with  a  dome  more  vast 

Till  thou  at  length  art  free, 

Leaving  thine   outgrown   shell   by   life's   unresting 


And  the  goal  of  many  lives  shall  be,  as  the 
Buddha  said  at  the  moment  when  he  had  achieved 
a  state  of  detachment  and  at  Oneness  with  the 
Infinite. 

"Through  many  different  births 

I  have  run,  vainly  seeking 

The  architect  of  the  desire-resembling  house. 

Painful  are  repeated  births, 

0  House  Builder,  I  have  seen  thee, 
Again  a  house  thou  canst  not  build  for  me, 

1  have  broken  thy  rafters  and  ridge  pole, 

I  have  arrived  at  the  extinction  of  evil  desire. 
My  mind  is  gone  to  Nirvana." 

The  repeated  return  of  the  soul  to  the  earth  in 
a  different  body  and  amid  different  surroundings 
is  made  necessary,  if  we  are  to  accept  the  law  of 
evolution,  and  no  intelligent  person  of  today  will 
say  that  souls  are  especially  created  for  a  new  body. 
Souls  develop  slowly,  through  many  experiences, 
and  the  many  times  repeated  incarnation  is 
for  the  purpose  of  bringing  the  soul  with  every 
type  of  experience — so  that  it  may  develop  spirit- 
uality or  Godlike  qualities — and  the  soul  is  always 
born  into  the  condition  it  has  made  for  itself,  for 
throughout  the  successive  incarnations  of  the  soul 
the  Law  of  Karma,  the  all-pervading  Law  of 
Causation  has  controlled  his  destiny.  As  then 
are  all  possible  grades  of  civilization  in  natioiif, 
so  there  are  all  possible  grades  in  the  position  of 
individuals  which  make  up  the  nations.  One  is 
rich,  another  poor,  one  has  health,  another  is  a 
cripple  or  deformed ;  one  has  opportunity  and 
another  hopelessness ;  one  is  born  into  surround- 
ings that  elevate,-  another  into  surroundings  which 
bring  only  suffering.  Karma  teaches  that  a  soul 
is  placed  just  where  it  belongs ;  that  a  man  pos- 
sesses what  he  has  earned,  and  receives  what  he 
deserves,  and  that  this  law  was  set  in  motion  by  a 
great  Loving  Power  that  controls  the  Universe ; 
that  when  we  are  in  harmony  with  this  law  it 
helps  us  and  all  creatures,^  and  that  while  our 
existence  here  in  this  life  is  but  temporary,  real 
existence  continues,  without  ceasing,  in  higher  or 
lower  forms  according  as  we  make  use  of  the 
opportunities  which  this  life  affords,  and  that  we 

—  10  — 


are  aided  in  the  development  of  our  higher  self 
by  beings  more  highly  evolved  than  ourselves  to 
whom  we  are  bound  by  a  mighty -fellowship  of 
love,  and  that  as  our  spirits  are  attuned  to  the 
spirit  of  righteousness  we  may  have  communion 
with  saints  and  fellowship  with  God — to  whom, 
through  our  long  pilgrimage,  we  are  bound  by  in- 
visible chains  of  love,  and  likewise  to  all  other 
souls,  who  also  partake  of  divinity,  and  whom  we 
cannot  injure  without  injuring  ourselves. 

I  cannot  do  better  than  to.  close  this  article  with 
the  eloquent  words  of  William  Jennings  Bryan : 

"If  the  Father  deigns  to  touch  with  divine  powei 
the  cold  and  pulseless  heart  of  the  buried  acorn 
and  to  make  it  burst  forth  from  its  prison  walls>, 
will  He  leave  neglected  in  the  earth  the  soul  of 
man,  made  in  the  image  of  his  Creator?  If  He 
stoops  to  give  to  the  rosebush  whose  withered  blos- 
soms float  upon  the  autumn  breeze  the  sweet  as- 
surance of  another  springtime,  will  He  refuse  the 
words  of  hope  to  the  sons  of  men  when  the  frosts 
of  winter  come  *?  If  matter,  mute  and  inanimate, 
though  changed  by  the  forces  of  nature  into  a 
multitude  of  forms,  can  never  die,  will  the  spirit 
of  man  suffer  annihilation  when  it  has  paid  a  brief 
visit  like  a  royal  guest  to  this  tenement  of  clay  "I 
No ;  I  am  as  sure  that  there  is  another  life  as  I  am 
that  I  live  today. 

"In  Cairo  I  secured  a  few  grains  of  wheat  that 
had  slumbered  for  more  than  three  thousand  years 
in  an  Egyptian  tomb.  As  I  looked  at  them  this 
thought  came  into  my  mind :  If  one  of  those 
grains  had  been  planted  on  the  banks  of  the  Nile 
the  year  after  it  grew  and  all  its  lineal  descend- 
ants planted  and  replanted  from  that  time  until 
now,  its  progeny  would  today  be  sufficiently  nu- 
merous to  feed  the  teeming  millions  of  the  world. 
If  this  invisible  germ  of  life  in  the  grain  of  wheat 
can  thus  pass  unimpaired  through  three  thousand 
resurrections,  I  shall  not  doubt  that  my  soul  has 
power  to  clothe  itself  with  a  body  suited  to  its 
new  existence  when  this  earthly  frame  has  crum- 
bled into  dust." 

NATURE 

Nature  never  did  betray 

The  heart  that  loved  her;  'tis  her  privilege 
Through  all  the  years  of  this  our  life  to  lead 
From  joy  to  joy;  for  she  can  so  inform 
The  mind   that  is  within   us   so  impress 
With   quietness  and  beauty,  and  so   feed 
With  lofty  thoughts,  that  neither  evil  tongues, 
Rash  judgments,  nor  the  sneers  of  selfish  men, 
Nor  greeting  where  no  kindness  is,  nor  all 
The  dreary  Intercourse  of  daily  life, 
Shall    e'er  prevail   against   us. 

— William   Wordsworth. 

—  11  — 


A  PHILOSOPHY  OF  LIFE 

The  one  first  postulate  or  ground  principle  of 
our  philosophy  of  life  is  the  great  Law  of  Karma, 
or  Causation.  All  beings  below  the  Infinite  One 
are  bound  in  the  chains  of  Environment  by  the 
consequences  of  their  virtues  or  vices.  Merit  or 
demerit  can  only  be  balanced  or  neutralized  by  the 
full  fruition  of  its  own  natural  and  inevitable  con- 
sequences. The  arrow  continues  in  flight  until  all 
of  its  imparted  power  is  spent.  Thus  the  cessation 
of  a  virtue  or  vice  does  not  put  an  end  to  its 
effects  until  the  full  force  is  exhausted. 

Philosophy  teaches  obedience  to  Natural  Law. 

Karma  is  one  of  the  fundamental  laws  of  na- 
ture, and  like  all  laws  of  nature,  it  is  eternal, 
invariable,  inviolable,  changeless  and  never  to  be 
broken.  But  we  need  not  feel  ourselves  hope- 
lessly in  the  grip  of  a  mighty  power  that  whirls 
us  away  wherever  it  will,  for  this  power  may  be- 
come a  blessing  to  us  in  its  action  upon  ourselves 
and  others,  as  soon  as  we  have  at  our  command 
sufficient  knowledge  to  work  in  accordance  with 
the  law.  For  only  by  obedience  to  the  law  are 
we  enabled  to  conquer  the  law,  and  become 
"Masters  of  our  fate." 

We  learn  that  mental  and  moral  laws  are  a 
part  of  natural  law — that  God's  law  and  nature 
are  not  in  continual  warfare  as  our  old  Orthodox 
conception  of  the  Universe  led  us  to  believe,  but 
that  moral  law  and  natural  law  is  in  complete 
harmony — that  the  physical  and  super-physical 
worlds  inter-penetrate  and  that  causes  set  going  in 
one  bring  about  results  in  the  other.  Karma  is  but 
natural  law — the  law  of  cause  and  effect.  It  un- 
derlies all  other  laws,  and  none  may  escape  it. 

All  parts  of  a  world,  of  a  system,  or  a  universe, 
are  inter-related,  and  whatever  affects  a  part  affects 
the  whole.  God  is  All  and  in  All  and  man  must 
place  before  his  mind  the  ideal  of  perfect  unity 
with  all  that  exists.  As  the  Early  Egyptian  phi- 
losophy teaches,  "All  things  are  of  One,  and  One 
is  all  things."  If  all  things  are  of  One,  and  One 
is  all  things,  then  my  brother's  Karma  is  my 
Karma,  and  when  man  becomes  fully  conscious  of 
his  own  divinity  he  is  conscious  of  the  divinity  of 
every  other  soul.  All  are  a  part  of  the  Absolute — 
the  Eternal — and  if  in  manifestation  some  are 
unequal — or  not  as  highly  evolved — mentally  or 
spiritually — as  others,  the  universe  must  be  laid 
under  tribute  to  their  wants,  for  not  one  soul  can 
attain  to  the  highest  perfection  of  bliss  and  peace 
and  eternal  compensation  as  long  as"  any  other 
soul  is  held  by  Karma — and  separate  from  the 
bosom  of  the  Eternal  Good  of  All. 

According  to  the  way  we  live,  whether  it  be  in 
harmony  with  the  great  spirit  of  Truth  and-Unity, 
or  whether  it  be  in  fighting  against  these  and 

—  12  — 


seeking  selfish  ends,  so  will  be  the  results  that  we 
bring  about  in  our  lives.  Thus,  by  a  knowledge 
of  the  great  law  of  Karma,  we  are  enabled  to 
hasten  our  evolution — for  as  we  each  and  every 
one  of  us  have  within  us  a^  spark  of  divinity — 
having  come  forth  in  the  beginning  from  God, 
and  having  passed  through  millions  of  different 
stages  in  all  kinds  of  forms  we  should  at  last 
become  "perfectly  wise  and  perfectly  good,"  and 
be  at  One  with  Him  who  is  the  Creator  and  Author 
of  our  Universe  and  in  whom  we  now  "live  and 
move  and  have  our  being."  When  we  started  on 
our  long  pilgrimage  we  were  only  inert  matter — 
and  asleep — but  the  little  spark  of  divinity  or 
Light  we  had  received  from  God  has  led  us  on 
and  on,  growing  brighter  and  brighter  all  the  way, 
quickening  our  senses — and  developing  our  minds, 
and  our  sympathies — and  at  the  end  of  our- jour- 
ney we  shall  have  gained  the  power  of  being  per- 
fectly conscious  on  every  plane  of  the  Universe — 
or  identified  with  all  that  exists  and  with  God, 
who  is  our  Goal. 

This  world — this  universe — or  any  other  uni- 
verse— has  always  existed  in  the  Thought  of  the 
Creator.  But  we  can  only  grasp — only  realize — 
such  phenomena — such  part — as  our  finite  minds 
have  power  to  grasp  successively.  There  may  be 
a  thousand  things  in  heaven  and  earth  undreamed 
of  in  our  philosophy.  If  our  eyes  were  opened  to 
see  the  inner  worlds,  how  vast  would  be  their 
comprehensive  organization,  but  our-  knowledge 
may  not  transcend  our  experience.  To  understand 
God  would  mean  to  be  God — but  the  relation  of 
the  individual  mind  to  the  universal  mind  may  be 
conceived  and  the  organization  of  the  corporeal 
world  is  the  expression  of  this  relation  in  the 
phenomenal  world.  Our  abstract  knowledge  en- 
ables us  to  see  that  our  physical  life  is  riot  inde- 
pendent, but  is  contained  in  a  larger  system.  So 
the  long  chains  of  Intermediate  links  of  suc- 
cessive phenomena — with  their  relative  inter-de- 
pendence— lead  us  into  the  all  embracing  com- 
bination of  the  divine  life. 

On  a  large  scale  the  order  of  Creation  or  causa- 
tion is  chaos,  light,  worlds,  vegetable  forms,  ani- 
mal life ;  then  man,  then  soul,  then  spirit,  and 
then — what?  There  begins  the  long  journey  home- 
ward to  to  God. 

As  in  the  Creation  of  the  natural  world,  so  in 
the  mental  and  moral  worlds  there  is  always  some 
link  between  phenomena  that  is  never  broken. 
One  event — one  act — brings  into  existence  another 
event — another  act,  or  another  effect — and  as  an 
immagination  of  high  power  seizes  and  assocites 
at  the  same  moment  all  the  important  ideas  of 
its  work,  so  that  while  it  is  working  with  any  one 
of  them  it  is  at  the  same  moment  fitting  them 

— 13  — 


all  into  a  perfect  whole,  so  the  faster  Minds, 
the  Builders  or  Devas  of  the  Universe,  are  fitting 
all  the  little  events — all  the  little  trials  and  dis- 
cipline and  suffering  of  our  lives — into  the  beauti- 
ful pattern  that  exists  in  the  thought  of  the 
Eternal. 

So  long  as  we  live  in  harmony  with  the  law  it  will 
be  well  with  us,  and  although  we  may  be  far  re- 
moved from  the  possession  of  infinite  goodne^a, 
infinite  power  and  infinite  wisdom,  we  have  come 
to  the  attainment  of  the  True  Knowledge  which 
secures  emancipation,  and  by  obedience  to  the  Law 
are  we  enabled  to  conquer  the  law. 

When  viewed  from  the  brief  duration  of  time, 
life  seems  confusion,  but  when  we  have  acquired 
an  understanding  of  the  Truth  we  know  that  there 
is  always  exact  compensation,  eternal  justice,  an 
abiding  peace  and  fullness  of  joy,  and  fruition  of 
all  our  hopes.  Sin  and  sorrow  and  suffering  exist, 
but  behind  all  the  conditions  of  existence  is  found 
the  great  truth  of  eternal  compensation — of  eter- 
nal Justice. 

Theosophists,  of  all  people  in  the  world,  should 
be  the  most  forgiving,  for  as  the  French  say,  "Tout 
comprendre,  c'est  tout  pardonner" — to  understand 
all  is  to  pardon  all.  When  once  the  great  plan  of 
the  Logos  is  revealed  to  our  vision  we  forget  self 
and  our  own  petty  interests  in  divine  service  to  all, 
and  we  are  not  alone  in  our  service  to  humanity, 
for  above  us  rises  a  great  hierarchy  of  more  highly 
developed  Beings  who  are  assisting  in  our  evolu- 
tion and  the  evolution  of  every  other  soul.  When 
once  the  Gospel  of  Divine  Wisdom  has  permeated 
our  minds,  the  glory  of  it  will  shine  through  our 
lives,  making  us  teachers  of  the  Truth — whether 
we  will  or  not. 

It  is  a  joyous  thing  to  have  come  into  possession 
of  a  Truth  that  brings  with  it  a  certainty  of  help 
to  others  in  the  great  problems  of  life.  When  one 
we  love  is  bound  down  'neath  the  weight  of  sorrow 
or  pain,-  we  need  not  be  dumb  in  their  presence, 
or  prate  idly  of  "God's  will",  for  out  of  the  evil 
of  long  ago  shall  come  a  present  or  future  good, 
and  the  acceptance  of  duties,  trusts  and  environ- 
ments may  be  made  a  stepping-stone  to  the  higher 
life  of  the  soul.  How  joyous  to  know  that  there 
is  nothing  to  be  saved  from  but  ourselves — our 
own  error  and  ignorance,  and  selfishness ;  no  divine 
wrath,  no  place  of  eternal  punishment ;  and  that 
the  whole  world  is  moving  forward  to  an  end  more 
glorious  than  the  highest  flight  of  poetic  imagina- 
tion may  yet  conceive ;  and,  more  glorious  still, 
to  know  that  we  will  not  be  separated  from  those 
we  love,  for  as  our  lives  in  the  past  have 
formed  the  associations  of  this  life,  the  law  of 
attraction  holds  good  in  all  the  worlds,  and 
although  we  may  be  separated  while  the  soul  of 

— 14  — 


some  loved  one  returns  to  earth  for  other  experi- 
ences and  other  lessons,  the  time  of  the  separation 
will  not  be  long,  for  in  the  scheme  of  eternity  a 
thousand  years  are  as  but  a  day,  and  when 
we  have  reached  the  plane  of  Wisdom,  or  Divine 
love,  we  are  free  from  rebirth,  and  our  progress 
will  thenceforth  be  on  spiritual  planes,  where  there 
is  no  separation. 


THE  PURSUIT  OF  THE  DIVINE  IDEAL 

I  am  Life  —  Human  Life — 

I  have  tasted  mortal  tears. 

Memories  of  other  worlds  are  mine  ; 

Touches  of  unseen  lips  upon  my  brow  thrill  me 
with  remembered  bliss  of  days  that  are  no 
more. 

Voices  from  the  infinite  reaches  of  Eternity  are 
bidding  me  hasten  onward  to  the  consumma- 
tion of  my  desire. 

I  am  Life  —  Human  Life — 

The    vast,    haunting,    bewildering    and    inevitable 

riddle  of  the  ages ; 
I  am  human  sorrow  and  the  incarnation  of  human 

hope ; 
Through   measureless  wanderings   and   triumphant 

rest, 
I  have  sensed  the  visible  and  invisible  worlds. 

I  am  Life  —  Human  Life — 

The  entire  and  eternal  soul  revelation  of  the 
universe ; 

The  Hindus,  Egyptians,  Chinese,  iJruids,  Phoeni- 
cians, 

Etruscans,  and  old  Slavonic  peoples  have  in  me  a 
common  origin ; 

I  am  the  Genesis  and  Exodus  of  the  world. 

Through  poverty,  oppression  and  slavery, 

Through  migrations  and  colonizations  and  endless 
flights, 

From  primeval  forests  and  barren  wastes  of  desert 
sands ; 

From  Egypt,  India  and   Scythia, 

Through  sunny  fields  of  Southern  Italy  and  in- 
cense breathing  Arabia; 

Across  the  Euphrates  and  the  Tigris  and  the 
flowering  vales  of  Cashmere, 

From  Eleusina,  Mecca  and  Jerusalem, 

I  have  passed  to  the  Elysium  of  the  soul. 

I   am   Life  —  Human   Life  —  the   mother   of   gods 

and  men. 
I  am  the  Egyptian  Isis  and  Osiris — the  Hindu  Isi 

and  Isana ; 

The  Demeter  and  Dionysus  of  Greece,  the  Roman 
Ceres  and  Bacchus ;  the  Disa  and  Frey  of  Scan- 
v  dinavia, 

—  15  — 


And  the  Mater  Dolorosa  and  Dominus  Salvator  of 
the  Christian  world. 

In  my  poems  of  truth,  in  philosophy,  art  and 
religion, 

Is  revealed  my  hatred  of  intolerance  and  injustice ; 

My  cry   for   Freedom  and   my   prayer  for  Light. 

I  have  repeated  myself  in  different  phases,  in  dif- 
ferent ages,  and  under  different  skies, 

And  in  each  cycle  of  evolution  from  flights  into 
darkness  and  resurrections  into  Light, 

I  have  come  nearer  to  the  Great  Ideal. 

I  am  Life  —  Human  Life  — 

I  have  known  love,  fame,  ambition,  treachery  and 
defeat. 

In  moments  of  my  greatest  triumph  has  been  re- 
vealed my  utmost  frailty. 

As  deep  as  is  my  mystery,  so  deep  is  my  sorrow; 

My  days  of  rejoicing  have  been  changed  to  weep- 
ing. 

War,  avarice,  and  hate  make  desolate  my  fair 
fields. 

Death  shadows  my  footsteps  and  my  sorrow  is  re- 
peated without  end. 

I  am  Life  —  Human  Life  — 

The  mystery  of  the  ages,  the  riddle  of  the  Sphinx, 

the  Isis  of  a  thousand  names, 
And  my  answer  is  ever  the  same : 
"I  am  all  that  has  been,  is  or  shall  be,  and  any 

veil  no  mortal  hath  yet  uncovered." 

I  am  Life  —  Divine  Life  — 

Ever  I  walk  the  earth  as  one  wuose  spiritual  ear 

is  attuned  to   other  worlds  and   other  planes 

of  being; 
The   far   tone   of  ante-natal   music   from   out   the 

"misty  realms  of  memory — the  pathos  and  pas- 
sion and  beauty  of  a  dream, 
Thrill  me  and  haunt  me,  with  remembrance  of  that 

Divine  land  from  which  I  came  arid  to  which 

I  shall  return 
When  the  days  of  my  pilgrimage  are  over  and  the 

Peace   which   passeth    all   understanding   shall 

encompass  my  soul. 


The  truest  heroism  is  that  which  is  unseen, 
unknown.  Public  martyrdom  of  every  shade  has 
a  certain  eclat  and  popularity  connected  with 
it,  that  will  often  bear  men  up  to  endure  with 
courage  its  trials ;  but  those  who  suffer  alone, 
without  sympathy,  for  truth  or  principle,  those 
who,  unnoticed  by  men,  maintain  their  post,  and 
in  obscurity,  and  amid  discouragement,  patiently 
fulfil  their  trust,  these  are  the  real  heroes  of  the 
age,  and  the  suffering  they  bear  is  the  truest  mar- 
tyrdom. 

—  16  — 


A  WREATH  OF  POSY  FOR  THE  ROSE 

"A  flower  is  not  a  flower  alone ; 

A  thousand  sanctities  invest  it, 
And,  as  they  form  a  radiant  zone, 
Around  its  simple  beauty  thrown, 
Their  magic   tint   becomes   its   own, 

As  if  their  spirit  had  possessed  it." 

The  Persians  have  a  tradition  that  all  roses  were 
white  until  Bulbul,  the  nightingale,  burning  with 
love  for  a  fair  rose,  pierced  it  with  a  thorn,  and 
her  blood  as  she  expired  tinged  the  leaves  of  the 
flower  with  red ;  but  Carey's  poetic  lines  are.  more 
beautiful  : 

"As  erst  in  Eden's  blissful  bowers 
Young  Eve  surveyed  her  countless  flowers, 
An  opening  rose  of  purest  white 
She  marked  with  eye  that  beamed  delight. 
Its  leaves  she  kissed  and  straight  it  drew 
From  beauty's  lips  the  vermeil  hue." 

That  all  roses  were  originally  white  the  poets 
would  have  us  believe,  and  Anacreon,  the  Greek 
poet,  says  that  they  arose  from  the  foam  that  hung 
in  snow-white  flakes  on  the  limbs  of  Aphrodite,  as 
she  came  forth  from  the  sea  in  transcendant  beauty. 

In  the  study  of  mythologic  symbolism  a  rose  in 
bloom  was  a  symbol  of  divinity.  It  was  God,  both 
male  and  female,  manifested  as  Love  and  Light. 
It  was  born  of  the  sun  and  the  morning  star.  Its 
color  was  that  of  the  dawn  as  beautifully  set  forth 
by  the  poet  Ansonius : 

"There  Paestan  roses  blushed  before  my  view, 
Bedropped  with  early  morning's  freshening  dew ; 
'Twere  doubtful  if  the  blossoms  of  the  rose 
Had  robbed  the  morning,  or  the  morning  those ; 
In  dew  and  tint  the  same,  the  star  and  flower, 
For  both  confess  the  Queen  of  Beauty's  power. 
Perchance  their  sweets  the  same,  but  this  more  nigh 
Exhales  the  breath,  while  that  embalms  the  sky". 

It  was  also  the  symbol  of  youth.  Youth  is  the 
rose-time  of  love,  the  June  of  its  summer. 

The  tendency  of  roses  to  quickly  fade  has  given 
the  poets  of  every  land  a  simile  for  fleeting  youth : 

"Go,  lovely  rose ! 
Tell  her  that  wastes  her  time  and  me, 

That  now  she  knows, 
v    When  I  resemble  her  to  thee, 

How  sweet  and  fair  she  seems  to  be ! 
******* 

"Then  die,  that  she        ; 
The  common  fate  of  all  things  rare 

May  read  in  thee — 
How  small  a  part  of  time  they  share 
That  are  so  wondrous  sweet  and  rare." 

—  17  — 


And  Hafiz,  the  Persian  poet,  questions : 

"Can  cheeks  where  living  roses  blow, 
Where  nature  spreads  her  richest  dyes, 
Require  the  borrowed  gloss  of  Art?" 

But  as  the  nature  lore  of  earliest  times  also 
reflected  the  very  opposite,  so  the  rose  as  a  symbol 
of  life  also  reflected  Death,  as  typified  by  the  cruel 
thorns  which  remained  after  the  rose  had  van- 
ished ;  and  this  symbolism  is  also  expressed  by 
Ansonius : 

"I  saw  a  moment's  interval  divide 
The  rose  that  blossomed  from  the  rose  that  died. 
This  with  its  cap  of  tufted  moss  looked  green ; 
That,   tipped   with   reddening  purple,  peeped    be- 
tween ; 

One  reared  its  obelisk  with  opening  swell, 
The  bud  unsheathed  its  crimson  pinnacle ; 
Another,  gathering  every  purpled  fold, 
Its  foliage  multiplied ;  its  blooms  unrolled, 
The  teeming  chives  shot  forth  ;  the  petals  spread ; 
The  bow-pot's  glory  reared  its  smiling  head; 
While  this,  that  ere  the  passing  moment  flew 
Flamed  forth  one  blaze  of  scarlet  on  the  view, 
Now   shook   from   withering   stalk   the   waste   per- 
fume, 

Its  verdure  stript,  and  pale  its  faded  bloom. 
I  marvelled  at  the  spoiling  flight  of  time, 
That  roses  thus  grew  old  in  earliest  prime ; 
E'en  while  I  speak,  the  crimson  leaves  drop  'round, 
And  a  red  brightness  veils  the  blushing  ground. 
These  forms,  these  births,  the  changes,  bloom,  de- 
cay, 

Appear  and  vanish  in  the  self-same  day. 
The    flower's   brief   grace,   O    Nature !    moves    my 

sighs, 

Thy  gifts,  just  shown,  are  ravished  from  our  eyes. 
One  day  the  rose's  age  ;  and  while  it  blows 
In  dawn  of  youth,  it  withers  to  its  close. 
The  rose  the  glittering  sun  beheld  at  morn, 
Spread  to  the  light  its  blossoms  newly  born, 
When  in  his  round  he  looks  from  evening  skies 
Already  droops  in  age,  and  fades,  and  dies. 
Yet  blest  that,  soon  to  fade,  the  numerous  flower 
Succeeds  herself,  and  still  prolongs  her  hour. 
O  virgins !  roses  cull,  while  yet  ye  may ; 
So  bloom  your  hours,  and  so  shall  haste  away." 

The  Persians  claim  that  roses  are  a  product  of 
their  land : 

"And  in  Eastern  lands  they  talk  in  flowers, 

And  they  tell  in  a  garland  their  loves  and  cares ; 

Each  blossom  that  grows  in  their  garden  bowers 
On  its  leaves  a  mystic  language  bears." 


—  18 


In  Persia  the  rose  is  inseparably  connected  with 
the  song  of  the  nightingale.  As  one  of  their  poets 
has  said :  "You  may  place  a  hundred  handf uls  of 
fragrant  herbs  and  flowers  before  the  nightingale, 
yet  he  wishes  not,  in  his  constant  heart,  for  more 
than  the  sweet  breath  of  his  beloved  rose.  Moore 
has  crystallized  the  beautiful  belief  in  poetry  as 
-  beautiful  as  in  "Lalla  Rookh"  : 

"There's  a  bower  of  roses  by  Bendemeer's  stream, 
And  the  nightingale  sings  round  it  all  the  day 

long; 
In  the  time  of  my  childhood  it  was  like  a  sweet 

dream 
To  sit  in  the  roses  and  hear  the  birds  song. 

That  bower  and  the  music  I  never  forget, 
But  oft  when  alone  in  the  bloom  of  the  year 

I  think :   Is  the  nightingale  singing  there  yet, 
Are  the  roses  still  bright  by  the  calm  Bendemeer '*? 

And  Byron  alludes  to  it  in  "Giaour" : 

"For  there  the  rose  'mid  crag  and  vale, 

Sultana  of  the  nightingale  ; 

The  maid  for  whom  his  melody, 

His  thousand  songs  are  heard  on  high, 

Blooms  blushing  to  her  lover's  tale." 

The  opening  of  the  rosebuds  by  the  singing  of 
the  nightingale  is  a  figure  of  speech  much  used  b> 
poets  of  the  east.  Thus: 

"The  nightingales  warbled  their  enchanting  notes 
and  rent  the  thin  vests  of  the  rosebud  and  the 
rose." 

Moore  has  told  o'f  the  hundred-leaved  rose  of 
Cashmere,  but  it  is  only  a  dream. 

The  Mohammedans  say  the  rose  sprung  from 
the  sweat  of  Mohammed.  Thus  they  will  not 
tread  upon  the  leaves,  or  see  them  wither  upon  the 
ground. 

Solomon  likens  the  church  to  the  "Rose  of 
Sharon."  And  we  read  in  Isaiah  35  (one  of  the 
most  beautiful  chapters  in  the  Bible)  :  "The  desert 
shall  rejoice  and  blossom  as  the  rose" — a  prophecy 
that  has  been  fulfilled  in  many  desert  places  of 
the  earth. 

The  flower  degraded  by  the  Greeks  and  Romans 
to  feasts  and  conviviality  was  raised  by  the  Chris- 
tians to  its  true  sphere. 

In  the  Litany  of  Loretta  the  Blessed  Virgin  is 
called  "Rosa  Mystica",  or  mystical  rose,  and  in  a 
poem  from  the  Spanish  we  read : 

"When   the   Eternal    God   would   make   himself  a 

child, 

To  Gabriel  he  said,  in  tender  voice,  and  smiled : 
'Go,  my  Gabriel,  go  to  the  land  of  Galilee ; 

—  19  — 


There,  in  a  lonesome  place,  a  hamlet  you  will  see ; 
'Tis  Nazareth  the  blest,  the  blest  for  ever  more, 
Where  you  will  see  a  rose-bough  a-bloom  beside 

the  door. 

In  a  little  house — you  will  know  it  by  the  sign — 
Lives  the  chosen  maiden,  White  Rose  of  David's 

line. 

In  Montalembert's  "Life  of  St.  Elizabeth"  is  told 
the  legend  of  the  miraculous  roses. 

St.  Elizabeth  often  visited  the  poor  and  minis- 
tered to  their  needs.  At  one  time,  during  a  time 
when  famine  threatened  in  Hungary,  over  which 
her  husband  ruled,  and  economy  must  be  practiced 
within  the  palace,  Elizabeth  could  scarcely  meet 
the  wants  of  her  people,  for  her  husband  had  for- 
bidden her  to  distribute  food.  One  case  of  suf- 
fering especially  appealed  to  her,  and  she  concealed 
some  articles  of  food  in  the  folds  of  her  dress,  go- 
ing alone  on  her  mission  of  charity. 

Just  as  she  had  descended  the  castle  steps  she 
met  her  husband  and  some  friends  returning  from 
the  chase.  The  king  was  astounded  to  see  her, 
and  asked  her  to  reveal  to  him  her  secret  mission. 
She  held  her  dress  in  terror  to  her  breast,  but  he 
gently  disengaged  her  hands  and  discovered — only 
sweet  clusters  of  red  and  white  roses ! 

Shakespeare  has  made  Juliet  avow  that  "a  rose 
by  any  other  name  would  smell  as  sweet" ;  but  we 
doubt  it.  A  rose  is — a  rose,  and  its  associations 
are  peculiarly  its  own,  as  is  also  its  name,  and  of 
all  roses  the  writer  loves  the  sweet  wild  rose  the 
best,  because  it  is  so  intimately  associated  with 
childhood  days. 

During  Caesar's  reign  so  abundant  had  forced 
flowers  become  in  that  city  that  when  the  Egyp- 
tians, intending  to  compliment  him  on  his  birth- 
day, sent  him  roses  in  midwinter,  they  found  their 
present  almost  valueless  in  the  profusion  of  roses 
in  Rome. 

The  following  translation,  a  Latin  Ode  to  Caesar 
upon  the  present,  will  give  some  idea  of  the  state 
of  floriculture  then.  There  were  hundreds  of 
varieties  of  roses,  cultivated  by  the  Romans  now 
entirely  lost : 

"The  ambitious  inhabitants  of  the  land  watered 
by  the  Nile  have  sent  thee,  O  Caesar,  the  roses 
of  winter,  as  a  present  valuable  for  its  novelty, 
but  the  boatman  of  Memphis  will  laugh  at  the 
gardens  of  Pharoah,  as  soon  as  he  has  taken  one 
step  in  thy  capital  city,  for  the  spring  in  all  its 
charms  and  the  flowers  in  their  fragrance  and 
beauty,  equal  the  glory  of  the  fields  of  Palestine. 
Wherever  he  wanders  or  casts  his  eyes,  every  street 
is  brilliant  with  garlands  of  roses.  And  thou,  O 
Nile,  must  yield  to  the  fogs  of  Rome.  Send  us 
thy  harvests  and  we  will  send  thee  roses." 

—  20  — 


SWEET  LAND  OF  OUR  VISIONS  AND 
DREAMS 

When  a  child  I  learned  of  a  place  called  Heaven, 

Far  away  in  the  starry  sky, 
Where  the  souls  of  the  good  are  carried 

By  the  Angels,  when  they  die. 
I  loved  to  hear  of  this  far-away  land, 

The  story  was  always  new; 
And  I  even  wished  that  the  Angels  would  come 

And  take  me  to  Heaven,  too. 

Sometimes  in  my  dreams  I  thought  the  clouds 

At  sunset  as  gates  would  unfold, 
And  I  caught  a  glimpse  of  the  glittering  spires 

Of  that  city  whose  streets  are  pure  gold. 
I  saw  the  Angels,  a  white  robed  throng, 

As  they  sang  around  the  throne ; 
Now   that  vision   returns,   though   the   years   have 
been  long, 

For  memory  treasures  her  own. 

O,  somewhere  I  know  is  a  beautiful  land, 

Where  the  dreams  and  the  dreamer  shall  meet; 
Where  the  world  weary  soul  shall  find  peace  and 
rest, 

And  the  rest  shall  be  long  and  sweet. 
It  may  not  be  far — since  many  I  love 

Have  passed  to  that  mystical  shore — 
Some  day  we  shall  know  and  shall  understand 

With  the  faith  of  a  child  once  more. 


MY  SONG 

I  sing  a  song  of  the  one  that  fails, 

Of  the  one  who  toils  in  vain ; 
Of  all  who  may  never  know  the  joy 

That  the  victorious  gain. 

I  sing  of  the  man  bowed  down  'neath  the  weight 

Of  calumny  and  wrong — 
Battling  hard  with  a  cruel  fate — 

Of  him  I  sing  my  song. 

I  sing  of  the  women  who  are  driven  down — 

Down  into  the  depths  of  despair — 
God  pity  them  all  and  grant  that  they 

May  Thy  great  mercy  share. 

I  sing  of  the  poor  little  stunted  child — 

The  child  of  despair  and  crime — 
O !  Heaven  forbid  that  my  heart  should  refuse 

To  give  them  more  than  a  rhyme. 

This  world  has  laurels  enough  to  bestow 

On  all  who  win  in  life's  race ; 
I  sing  of  those  on  who  fortune  turns 

A  dark  and  frowning  face. 


NATURE,  THE  GREAT  TEACHER 

It  should  be  one  of  the  chief  points  in  the  educa- 
tion of  children  to  awaken  their  susceptibility  to 
the  charms  of  nature.  They  should  early  be  taught 
the  delights  of  common  things,  in  order  that  they 
may  take  the  place  of  that  craving  for  sensation- 
alism and  artificiality  which  leads  away  from 
the  healthful  pursuits  of  life.  It  is  possible  to 
acquire  a  knowledge  and  love  of  nature  in  the 
later  years  of  life,  but  this  knowledge  nearly 
always  comes  in  the  early  education  of  childhood 
days  when  the  sensibilities  are  delicately  impress- 
ive and  the  desire  for  knowledge  is  most  active. 

Every  child  loves  dirt  and  water  and  the  open 
air,  and  these  elements  fulfill  a  divine  purpose  in 
his  spiritual  and  physical  economy. 

The  great  business  of  childhood  is  growth,  and 
the  first  duty  of  a  parent  is  to  give  to  a  child  a 
healthy  body,  for  without  a  healthy  body  he  can  be 
of  but  little  use  to  the  world. 

Pure  air  is  the  life  of  the  blood,  which  nourishes 
the  body.  The  terrible  aggregate  of  infant  mor- 
tality in  the  cities  shows  how  deadly  impure  air 
is  to  the  existence  of  infant  life.  Adults  offensive 
in  air  that  children  die  in,  or  rather,  die  slowly 
where  children  die  quickly.  Then,  too,  children 
must  have  exercise,  not  gymnastics,  but  the  free- 
dom of  the  woods  and  the  hills,  in  order  to  develop 
every  muscle,  and  they  need  contact  with  the  dirt, 
with  the  soil.  Dirt  is  not  filth ;  dirty  children  are 
those  unclean  from  the  unwashed  excretions  of 
their  skins.  Many  a  sickly  child  allowed  to  play 
in  the  dirt  would  become  strong  and  well.  Then, 
too,  there  is  the  beneficent  influence  of  the  sunlight 
which  is  essential  to  perfect  health.  Light  is  a 
powerful  stimulant  to  the  skin,  rousing  it  to  the 
performance  of  its  excretory  function.  Many  a 
sickly  child  has  been  restored  to  health  by  daily 
baths  of  sunlight  in  the  open  air.  Life  in  the  city' 
is  a  life  of  shadow.  Hundreds  of  thousands  of  chil- 
dren sleep  in  rooms  that  are  never  reached  by  one 
ray  of  sunlight,  and  on  their  way  to  and  from 
school  they  pass  in  the  shadow  of  stone  walls.  God 
pity  them  all,  and  may  those  who  delight  in  phil- 
anthropy devise  some  means  whereby  the  schools,  at 
least, shall  be  great  open-air  courts, heated  artificially 
if  necessary,  where  the  sunlight  many  enter  freely 
at  all  times  of  the  year.  Of  course,  they  may  not 
be  deported  bodily  to  the  country,  for  there  are 
multitudes  of  people  of  ample  means  whose  chil- 
dren are  entire  strangers  to  the  charms  of  country 
life.  Those  people  have  no  intelligent  conception 
of  the  necessity  of  pure  air,  exercise  and  sunlight 
to  the  healthful  development  of  their  children.  En- 
grossed as  they  are  in  the  pusuit  of  wealth  and 
pleasure,  they  forget  the  lives  that  have  been 
placed  in  their  keeping. 

—  22  — 


The  late  war  took  many  a  youth  who  had  been 
reared  in  an  unnatural  atmosphere  of  city  life, 
into  the  open-air  training  camps  of  the  country  and 
made  a  man  of  him. 

No  child  allowed  to  play  in  the  dirt  and  sun- 
light of  the  open  air  ever  developed  an  unnatural 
appetite  for  food  or  any  sensual  indulgence.  Only 
an  unnatural,  artificial  life  induces  an  unhealthful 
appetite.  A  child  that  plays  all  day  long  has  an 
appetite  for  the  simplest  and  best  food. 

Then,  too,  the  early  association  of  childhood 
with  nature  is  essential  to  the  growth  of  a  healthy 
mind  and  a  healthy  soul.  In  the  formative  period" 
of  a  child's  life  it  is  absolutely  necessary  that  all 
influences  be  such  as  tend  to  call  out  and  develop 
that  which  is  good.  Goodness  cannot  be  developed 
in  an  unhappy  child,  and  the  instinct  of  play,  of 
natural — not  artificial  play — is  an  animal  instinct 
which  they  hold  in  common  with  lambs,  kittens, 
puppies,  and  other  young  animals. 

Nature  is  always  the  best  teacher.  To  make  the 
personal  acquaintance  of  plants,  trees,  hills, 
and  streams,  and  a  thousand  form  of  animal  life  ; 
to  observe  the  processes  of  birth  and  decay,  of 
seed  time  and  harvest,  and  learn  how  by  the  labor 
of  human  hands  the  food  is  drawn  from  the  soil, 
is  a  great  privilege,  and  without  such  knowledge 
no  education  can  be  complete.  It  is  said  that  the 
country  boy  holds  the  key  to  all  knowledge,  and 
all  literature,  and  in  the  knowledge  of  the  relation 
of  nature  to  human  want  and  human  happiness  he 
is  enabled  to  become  a  power  and  a  leader  in  the 
world  of  affairs.  But  it  is  not  alone  in  its  influ- 
ence upon  health  and  character  that  an  early  love 
of  nature  is  to  be  considered.  A  love  of  nature, 
an  intuitive  understanding  of  nature,  is  a  fountain 
of  inspiration  to  the  soul.  The  soul  attuned  to  the 
contemplation  of  nature  sees  a  thousand  charms 
never  revealed  to  a  sordid  mind.  Homer  had  no 
books,  yet  his  soul  "kept  house  in  the  universe". 
His  heart,  like  the  Aoelian  harp,  was  responsive 
to  the  passing  breeze.  A  mind  cannot  fail  to  bring 
good  tidings  whose  feet  are  on  the  mountins.  Our 
greatest  poets  and  prose  writers,  our  greatest  ora- 
tors and  artists  have  been  those  -most  keenly  sus- 
ceptible to  the  delights  of  nature ;  and  in  childhood 
days  we  lay  up  in  the  receptacle  of  memory  the 
natural  impressions  which  we  draw  upon  for  re- 
freshment in  after  years. 

To  the  student  of  nature  is  opened  an  inexhaust- 
ible store  of  knowledge  and  enjoyment.  To  the 
mind  trained  to  think  no  object  of  nature,  no 
event  of  life  is  destitute  of  interest ;  all  places,  all 
times  are  full  of  interest,  full  of  joy;  "the  music 
of  the  spheres"  is  not  an  empty  phrase,  for  he  has 
acquired  a  sense  by  which  he  hears  it;  the  objects 
of  nature  form  an  animated  society  in  which  he 

—  23  — 


delights  to  dwell,  and  with  all  things  he  claims 
brotherhood. 

It  is  only  the  material  or  tangible  part  of  nature 
which  may  be  calculated  and  made  to  minister  to 
sensual  pleasures.  If  the  lessons  of  the  harvest 
with  its  good  seed  and  tares,  and  the  angels  its 
reapers ;  the  teaching  of  the  sparrow  and  the  divine 
love  which  watched  over  them ;  the  grass  and  the 
lilies  of  the  field  clothed  with  splendor,  bring  no 
lessons  to  the  soul,  then  are  we  no  more  highly 
evolved  than  the  beasts  that  perish.  The  higher 
the  order  of  intelligence  the  more  the  divine  image 
becomes  palpable  in  all  around  them,  and  more 
highly  evolved  spirits  and  angels  have  perceptions 
far  more  acute  and  rapturous  than  ours.  High  gifts 
have  been  wrought  into  the  dim  soul  which  art. 
destined  to  be  gradually  awakened  through  the 
growing  peerceptions  of  the  mind. 

In  all  the  myriad  forms  of  natural  beauty — in 
the  changing  seasons,  in  the  bursting  bud  and  ex- 
panding leaf,  in  liberated  streams  and  singing  birds 
and  timely  showers  and  pulsing  sod,  is  found  the 
renewal  of  organic  life,  the  endless  conceiving  and 
forming  and  begetting,  through  pain,  death  and 
decay,  through  sorrow,  hope  and  tears,  into  the 
glorious  consciousness  of  Divinity.  There  is  no 
understanding  a  little  and  leaving  the  rest  for  him 
who  would  "consider  the  lily"  and  explore  the 
infinite  realms  which  lead  from  nature  up  to  Na- 
ture's God. 

In  all  the  varied  forms  of  nature  is  found  a 
beautiful  symbolism  and  a  marvelous  fabric  of 
thought,  and  to  those  who  understand  their  hidden 
lore,  every  object  is  invested  with  deep  significance 
and  earnest,  passionate  beauty.  In  fact,  all  that 
the  world  has  given  to  Beauty  owes  its  incarnation 
to  the  innate  love  of  the  monad  for  the  manifest 
laws  of  nature. 

It  is  a  mistake  to  think  that  all  who  are  thrown 
into  close  association  with  nature  are  lovers  of 
nature.  In  this  twentieth  century  world  lovers  of 
nature  must  acquire  by  education  and  observa- 
tion a  certain  kind  of  intellectual  training;  not 
necessarily  the  training  purchased  from  accepted 
schools  of  thought,  whose  diplomas  and  degrees 
do  not  confer  upon  the  recipient:  any  unusuat 
powers  of  mind,  but  only  imply  the  possession 
of  artificial  knowledge  derived  from  books,  which 
is  an  invaluable  adjunct  to  education,  but  not 
education  itself.  Education  means  development 
from  within.  Most  people  think  of  education  as 
a  process  of  filling  up,  or  cramming,  the  brain 
and  memory  with  facts,  data,  etc.  Children  are 
sent  to  school  as  to  a  prison — to  be  confined  and 
handled  and  jilled  up,  and  shook  down  and  exam- 
ined. True,  education  is  purely  and  simply  a 
leading  out  into  natural  channels  of  development. 

—  24-- 


The  school  room  should  be  an  enchanted  spot 
which  the  child  may  enter  naturally  and 
joyously.  Education  is  in  the  power  of  concen- 
tration that  leads  to  contemplation  and  medita- 
tion. When  the  soul  possesses  these  powers 
it  may  go  direct  to  the  sources  of  knowledge. 
"The  privileges  of  the  university  will  not  sup- 
ply the  want  of  thought,  but  thought  and  ob- 
servation will  amply  atone  for  them.  And  we 
should  be  careful  to  place  our  children  in  schools 
where  they  will  be  taught  to  think,  observe  and 
derive  their  education  and  their  happiness  from 
objects  that  lie  immediately  around  them.  It  was 
a  beautiful  idea  of  the  ancients  that  the  universe  is 
an  allegorical  representation,  under  the  visible 
forms  of  which  are  couched  ideas -and  wisdom  that 
only  the  wise  can  read.  Every  object  of  land  and 
sea  was  the  subject  of  a  myth,  and  this  myth  had 
a  meaning  founded  in  the  deepest  laws  of  life,  and 
all  were  curiously  connected  in  one  vast  system — 
dove  and  serpent,  flower  and  tree,  cup  and  ring, 
were  each  the  object  of  a  pretty  fable,  having  a 
deep  meaning,  and  each  and  all  were  the  essen- 
tial parts  of  one  vast  whole.  Man  had  not  learned 
to  worship  God  apart  from  His  creation.  This 
form  of  worship  is  not  common  today,  but  excep- 
tional. What  the  ancients  possessed  as  intuitional 
we  may  only  regain  by  education  and  contempla- 
tion. Sometimes,  however,  there  are  souls  who 
may  yet  discern  the  loveliness,  the  deep  inner 
meaning  of  things.  We  call  them  poets,  painters, 
people  of  genius,  and  speak  of  them  as  gifted,  but 
they  have  only  brought  over  from  the  past  in  a 
greater  or  less  degree  what  the  ancients  possessed 
as  a  natural  sequence  of  their  close  association  with 
nature.  Simple  melodies,  more  highly  evolved 
forms,  and  less  attractive  colors  appeal  only  to 
people  of  intuitive  minds.  Among  such  simple  and 
refined  pleasures  are  the  song  of  birds,  the  study 
of  wild  flowers,  the  formation  of  crystals,  anu 
all  the  varying  aspects  of  nature  in  her  more 
retiring  moods. 

Of  all  the  many  forms  of  nature  study  none  is 
more  delightful  than  a  study  of  flowers,  wild 
flowers  in  particular,  for  in  reality  all  flowers  must 
revert  to  their  original  type,  and  one  need  not  be 
familiar  with  all  the  technical  terms  and  botanical 
lore,  although  such  knowledge  of  the  schools  is 
helpful,  when  not  detrimental,  as  it  very  often  is, 
to  a  revelation  of  those  hidden  mystical  meanings 
which  the  soul  of  things  reveals  to  him  who  is 
athirst  for  the  truth. 

Nature  has  made  all  her  scenes  and  the  sights 
and  sounds  that  accompany  them  more  beautiful 
by  causing  them  to  be  suggestions  of  certain  sensa- 
tions. The  music  of  birds,  like  the  fragrance  of 
flowers,  awakens  the  affections  and  the  imagina- 


tion,  delighting  the  soul  with  visions  of  memory, 
of  golden  mornings  and  glorious  sunsets,  of  rus- 
tling leaves  in  the  autumn  woods  of  childhood,  of 
the  song  of  the  reapers  under  the  harvest  moon, 
of  hollyhocks  and  climbing  roses,  and  the  old  elm 
that  beat  a  tattoo  upon  the  roof  that  sheltered  the 
attic  bed. 

There  are  flowers  too  holy  for  culture  and  birds 
whose  tones  inspire  the  soul  with  a  sense  of  free- 
dom and  unutterable  longings  for  the  Infinite. 

One  of  the  sweetest  poems  the  writer  has  ever 
read  is  from  the  pen  of  Bliss  Carmen,  and  is  enti- 
tled "The  Rainbird".  I  give  it  here  because  of  its 
innate  beauty  and  simplicity : 

THE  RAINBIRD 

Far  off  I  heard  a  rainbird, 
Listen !    How  fine  and  clear 

His  plaintive  voice  comes  ringing 
With  rapture  to  the  ear ! 

Over  the  misty  woodlots, 
Across  the  first  spring  heat, 

Comes  the  enchanted  cadence, 
So  clear,  so  solemn-sweet. 

How  often  I  have  hearkened 
To  that  high  pealing  strain, 

Across  the  cedar  barrens, 
Under  the  soft  gray  rain. 

How  often  have  I  'wondered, 
And  longed  in  vain  to  know 

The  source  of  that  enchantment — 
That  touch  of  long  ago. 

O  brother,  who  first  taught  thee 
To  haunt  the  teeming  spring 

With  that  divine  sad  wisdom 
Which  only  age  can  bring*? 

— Bliss  Carman. 

The  poet  is  one  gifted  to  read  the  mystic  sym- 
bols of  nature.  True  poetic  language  always 
expresses  the  invisible  thought  of  the  soul ;  and,  as 
Coleridge  has  said:  "Whenever  you  find  a  sen- 
tence musically  worded,  of  true  rhythm  and  mel- 
ody in  the  words,  there  is  always  something  deep 
and  true  in  the  meaning,  too." 


A  philosopher  once  said :  "If  the  gods  would 
grant  me  all  knowledge,  I  wound  not  thank  them 
for  the  boon ;  but  if  they  would  grant  me  the 
everlasting  pursuit  of  it,  I  would  render  them 
everlasting  thanks/' 


—  26  — 


I  LIVE  IN  THE  GREAT  FOREVER 

With  apologies  to  an  ancient  Hindu,  who  sang 
the  words  I  have  quoted,  many  thousand  years  ago. 

"I  live  in  the  great  Forever, 

I  lave  in  the  ocean  of  Truth : 
I  bask  in  the  golden  sunlight 

Of  endless  love  and  youth. 

God  is  within  and  around  me, 

All  good  is  forever  mine  : 
To  all  who  seek,  it  is  given, 

And  it  comes  by  a  law  divine." 

In  the  majesty  of  the  tempest, 

In  the  lightning  that  cleaves  the  night, 

In  the  sorrow  that  lifts  the  spirit 
Upward  to  realms  of  Light. 

In  the  radiance  of  the  morning, 

In  the  glow  of  the  evening  sky : 
In  the  song  of  the  reapers  returning, 

After  the  day  has  gone  by. 

In  success  that  rewards  endeavor, 

In  peace  at  the  close  of  day ; 
In  voices  that  come  in  the  silence 

From  the  land  of  the  far-away. 

In  all  the  bright  birds  that  are  singing, 
In  all  the  fair  flowers  that  bloom, 

In  the  ceaseless  resurrection 

Of  life  from  death  and  the  tomb. 


In  the  tender  word  that  is  spoken, 
In -the  laugh  of  a  little  child, 

In  the  bread  that  is  daily  broken, 
In  the  faith  that  is  undefiled. 

In  the  golden  glow  of  the  sunset, 
In  the  silver  sheen  of  the  night, 

In  all  the  bright  worlds  above  me, 
Circling  in  radiance  bright. 

In  the  sunlight  on  hills  and  valleys, 
In  the  scent  of  the  rain-washed  sod, 

My  soul  is  forever  singing 
In  worship  and  praise  to  God. 

Thus  I  live  in  the  Great  Forever, 
With  God,  while  eternities  roll, 

His  spirit  forsakes  me  never, 

His  love  is  the  Home  of  my  soul. 

—  27  — 


SUPPLICATION  AND  ADORATION 

(Written  for  the  Church  of  the  New  Age) 

Grant  us  Thy  blessing,  Lord, 

As  now  before  Thy  throne 
We  kneel  in  adoration 

And  worship  Thee  alone, 
Who  art  the  Mighty  Trinity 

Of  Wisdom,  Love  and  Light. 
Strengthen  us  in  courage, 

And  guide  us  through  the  night 
Of  all  our  earthly  sorrows 

Until  at  last  we  stand 
Rejoicing  in  Thy  presence, 

One  great  unbroken  band, 
Where  Cherubim  and  Seraphim 

And  all  the  mighty  throng 
Sing  praise  to  Him  who  is  the  theme 

Of  Love's  triumphant  song. 

Thou  art  the  King  of  Glory, 

Descend  to  us,  we  pray, 
For  lo,  the  earth  expectant  waits 

Thy  coming,  Lord,  today. 
Pour  out  Thy  blessing  freely 

In  all  Thy  sevenfold  grace ; 
Sanctify  and  purify, 

That  we  may  see  Thy  face. 
We  worship  and  adore  Thee, 

Make  our  spirits  free 
To  come  within  the  presence 
Of  Thine  Infinite  Majesty. 
Thou  art  from  the  beginning 

The  Uncreated  One 
Thine  essence  is  outpouring 

All  Power  from  sun  to  sun. 

We  worship  and  adore  Thee, 

May  holy  fires  refine 
And  lift  us  from  the  dross  of  earth 

To  joys  which  are  divine. 
Submit  the  senses  to  the  soul, 

Exalt  the  highest  self 
And  teach  us  to  discriminate 

In  all  Thy  boundless  wealth. 
We  worship  and  adore  Thee, 

Make  our  profession  real, 
That  in  a  world  of  sorrow 

We  may  have  power  to  heal 
And  lift  each  burdened  spirit 

Unto  Thy  fount  of  Truth, 
Where  all  may  share  the  blessing 

Of  Thine  immortal  youth. 


—  28  — 


We  worship  and  adore  Thee, 

Because  Thou  art  divine, 
Thou  gavest  unto  each  of  us 

A  little  spark  of  Thine, 
And  dimly  as  our  candle  burns 

Its  feeble  rays  of  Light 
Are  whispering  of  tomorrows 

And  guiding  through  the  night, 
And  we  have  but  to  reach  our  hand 

And  clasp  a  brother's  hand, 
To  form  a  mighty  channel 

And  find  that  radiant  bands 
Are  reaching  upward  to  the  Throne 

From  whence  our  light  descends, 
And  that  worlds  and  worlds  of  power 

With  our  little  candle  blends. 


FARE  ON,  MY  SOUL! 

"The  awakened  soul  must  sail  or  die." — Edmund 
Gosse. 

Fare  on,  my  soul,  nor  rest  content ; 

Thy  course  is  ever  onward  bent ; 

Though  naked,  poor,  despised,  alone, 

Heaven  waits  for  thee,  thy  way  is  known. 

Fare  on,- my  soul,  nor  count  the  cost; 

Fare  on,  my  soul,  though  all  is  lost 

That  my  poor  heart  so  fondly  craves ; 

Fare  on,  my  soul,  through  storm-tossed  waves, 

To  that  far  haven  where  thou  shalt  reign 

And  all  thy  high  estate  regain. 

Fare  on,  my  soul,  fare  ever  on, 
Until  thy  goal  at  last  is  won ; 
Though  ages  pass  and  stars  grow  old 
Ere  yet  thy  journey  has  been  told  ; 
Press  onward  to  the  realms  of  light 
Through  all  the  sorrow  of  the  night. 
Thou  art  not  fettered,  thou  art  free! 
Fare  on,  my  soul,  I'll  follow  th€e. 

— Published  in  the  Messenger,  Krotona,  Holly- 
wood, Los  Angeles. 


GROWTH 

As  through  the  sunshine  and  rain, 

From  seed  to  plant,  then  flower, 

The  world-old  miracle  is  wrought 

Of  growth  in  Nature's  bower.    . 

So  not  with  observation  comes 

God's  kingdom  in  the  heart ; 

His  angels  build  all  silently 

And  weave  in  every  part 

The  golden  threads  of  love  and  truth, 

In  joy,  sometimes  in  tears — 

To  Faith  and  Love  shall  be  revealed 

The  fruitage  of  the  years. 

—  29  — 


THE  LAW  OF  UNITY 

In  the  Meditations  of  Marcus  Aurelius,  the  Ro- 
man philosopher,  are  found  the  following  passages 
which  partook  of  the  Ancient  Wisdom: 

"Constantly  regard  the  universe  as  one  living 
being:  and  observe  how  all  things  have  reference 
to  one  perception,  the  perception  of  this  one  living 
being ;  and  how  all  things  act  with  one  movement, 
and  how  all  things  are  the  co-operating  causes  of 
all  things  which  exist.  Observe,  too,  the  continu- 
ous spinning  of  the  thread,  and  the  contexture  of 
the  web." 

"Time  is  like  a  river  made  up  of  the  events 
which  happen,  and  a  violent  stream,  for  as  soon  as 
a  thing  has  been  seen  it  is  carried  away  and  an- 
other comes  in  its  place,  and  this  will  be  carried 
away  too." 

"In  the  series  of  things,  those  which  follow  are 
always  aptly  fitted  to  those  which  have  gone 
before,  for  the  series  is  not  like  a  mere  enumera- 
tion of  disjointed  things,  which  has  only  a  neces- 
sary sequence,  but  it  is  a  rational  connection;  and 
as  all  existing  things  are  arranged  together  har- 
moniously, so  all  things  which  come  into  existence 
exhibit  no  mere  succession,  but  a  certain  wonderful 
relationship." 

"Frequently  consider  the  connection  of  all  things 
in  the  universe  and  their  relation  to  one  another." 

"We  are  all  working  together  to  one  end — some 
with  knowledge  and  design,  and  others  without 
knowing  what  they  do."- 

It  seems  to  me  that  the  Emperor  of  Rome  dis- 
covered in  part  a  great  truth,  but  he  does  not 
take  us  far  enough ;  he  does  not  give  us  any 
reason  for  the  great  interdependence  of  all  that 
exists.  We  must  go  much  farther  back — to  the 
most  remote  civilizations  of  ancient  Egypt  and 
India,  to  find  the  triumphant  Truth — the  grand- 
eet  inspiration  ^that  can  come  to  any  human  soul — 
the  thought  of  a  Power,  illimitable,  incomprehen- 
sible and  eternal,  behind  all  the  phenomena  of  the 
universe — enduring  while  all  things  change — fill- 
ing immensity  and  eternity — holding  worlds,  sys- 
tems and  universes  moored  to  His  throne,  and  yet 
manifesting  His  love,  in  each  grain  of  dust  be- 
neath our  feet,  in  every  atom  of  every  universe — 
to  whom  he  has  given  life  and  intelligence  and 
unity,  with  Himself  the  great  Author  and  Creator 
of  All. 

God  is  All,  and  in  All,  and  man  himself,  whom 
He  has  made  a  little  lower  "than  the  angels,  and 
clothed  with  glory  and  honor,  is  yet  but  a  part  of 
the  great  cosmic  law  of  the  universe — he  cannot 
separate  himself  from  all  other  created  things. 
The  longer  he  rebels  against  the  law  of  unity,  the 
greater  will  be  his  suffering,  for  he  must  inevitably 
return  to  at-one-ness  with  God  and  all  that  exists. 

—  30  — 


Were  the  human  soul  complete  in  itself,  no 
necessity  for  striving  would  exist.  Man  would 
be  a  God  unto  himself,  but  the  innate  longing  for 
the  Infinite,  and  our  yearning  for  that  fullness  of 
time,  when  the  past  and  future  shall  live  with  us 
as  really  as  the  present  itself,  reveals  itself  in  an 
insane  seizing  upon  something  in  the  present  which 
we  insist  upon  worshipping  and  calling  divine. 
"We  cannot  escape  from  the  intuition  of  Eternal 
Love ;  it  is  ever  knocking  at  the  door  of  our  hearts 
in  sweet  unexpected  missions  of  grace  and  tender- 
ness. We  are  haunted  by  it  in  our  lowliest  walks, 
and  out  of  earth  and  sky,  flowers  and  trees — the 
loveliness  of  moon  and  stars,  and  sweet  human 
eyes,  creeps  into  our  spirits  the  knowledge  that  God 
is  Love,  and  all  His  handiwork  an  expression  of 
harmony  and  unity.  "There  is  an  invisible  bond 
of  unity  between  the  finite  and  the  infinite,  and  as 
all  are  a  part  of  the  Infinite  all  are  bound  in  the 
unity  of  love.  When  man  becomes  fully  awake 
to  his  own  divinity  he  is  conscious  of  the  divinity 
of  every  other  soul,  and  the  problem  of  unity  of 
the  finite  and  infinite  has  been  solved.  Indeed, 
there  are  moments  in  our  lives  when  we  are  deeply 
conscious  of  the  bond  that  unites  us  with  all  ani- 
mate and  inanimate  things.  As  one  writer  has 
expressed  this :  "I  seated  myself  after  sunset  by 
the  water's  edge.  Nothing  was  heard  but  the  dash 
of  the  waves  as  they  broke  upon  the  lonely  shore, 
and  I  gradually  fell  into  that  state  so  well  known 
among  solitary  travelers ;  no  distinct  remembrance 
of  my  separate  being  remained  to  me.  I  seemed  to 
be  but  a  part  of  some  great  whole — to  undulate 
with  the  lake,  to  sigh  with  the  winds,  to  vegetate 
with  the  trees,  and  blossom  with  the  flowers."  This 
feeling  of  the  Infinite  may  so  pervade  the  soul 
that  man  may  lose  consciousness  of  his  own  per- 
sonality, regarding  himself  as  but  a  part  of  the 
absolute  unity  of  the  world.  When  we  are  "in 
tune  with  the  Infinite"  we  do  not  fear  death,  nor 
the  loss  of  all  personal  identity — we  are  not  bound 
hand  and  foot  under  the  despotism  of  a  pitiless 
fate  —  for  in  the  glorified  humanity  of  all,  the 
union  of  the  finite  with  the  infinite  is  at  last  accom- 
plished. Even  as  Christ  took  our  humanity  upon 
Him,  so  infinite  love  must  pass  through  all  degrees 
of  suffering  and  experience — and  it  was  of  this 
unity  He  spoke  when  He  said : 

"Neither  pray  I  for  these  alone,  but  for  them 
also  which  shall  believe  on  me  through  their  word, 
that  they  may  be  all  One,  as  thou,  Father,  art  in 
me,  and  I  in  thee." 

The  interdependence  of  all  humanity  is  an 
essential  characteristic  of  life  itself.  Without  ad- 
herence and  interdependence  no  creature  could 
maintain  existence  for  a  moment.  There  is  no 
matter,  no  spirit  that  is  not  held  in  unity  of  some 

—  31  — 


kind  with  other  creatures,  in  which  unity  is  found 
their  strength.  This  unity  of  a  common  humanity 
manifests  itself  in  sympathy,  in  mutual  helpful- 
ness, in  deeds  of  mercy  and  kindness^  and  insep- 
arable dependence  upon  each  other.  No  soul  can 
develop  all  its  latent  powers  without  the  trust 
and  confidence  of  its  fellow  beings,  and  in  times  of 
suffering  such  as  the  world  has  recently  undergone 
— is  now  undergoing — we  feel  a  common  danger 
and  a  common  devotion  to  a  great  principle — a 
great  Ideal  unites  our  common  humanity. 
•  *  *  * 

Unity  manifesting  in  lower  form  of  life  than 
the  human  gives  beauty,  order,  symmetry  and 
variety  to  flower  and  plant  and  tree.  It  turns 
the  dust  into  crystals  of  marvelous  beauty  and 
symmetry.  It  forms  continents,  rivers  and  oceans, 
and  the  fleecy  clouds  that  pitch  their  tents  in 
the  blue  vault  of  heaven.  "It  is  the  clinging 
together  that  gives  power  to  the  winds,  weight  to 
the  waves,  heat  to  the  sunbeams,  stability  to  the 
mountains,  and  melody  and  harmony  to  sound."  To 
every  atom  of  matter  in  the  universe  God  has 
spoken  His  command,  "Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord 
thy  God,  with  all  thy  soul,  mind  and  strength, 
and  thy  neighbor  as  thyself."  "Thou  shalt  attach 
thyself  to  His  eternal  throne  with  all  thy  capacity 
of  unity,  and  draw  with  thee  thy  fellow  creature 
to  the  same  center."  Since  the  world  was  created 
not  a  grain  of  sand,  not  a  drop  of  water  has  ever 
broken  that  law.  Particle  to  particle,  atom  to 
atom,  sun  to  sun,  system  to  system,  all  material 
creatures  are  moored  to  His  throne.  Only  the 
spirit  of  man  rebels,  to  learn  at  last,  after  many 
wanderings  and  much  suffering,  that  in  unity  only 
may  be  found  peace  and  rest.  He  who  sets  his 
spirit  against  the  law  of  Love  or  unity  in  its  oper- 
ation in  the  moral  and  spiritual  worls,  would  set 
at  naught  the  mighty  law  that  centers  in  God,  and 
which  binds  together  all  the  hearts  that  beat  with 
spiritual  existence.  He  who  cherishes  hate  in  his 
heart  would  sever  the  attraction  that  binds  together 
all  created  things.  It  is  the  nature  of  hate  to  in- 
spire fear,  and  fear  leads  to  slavery  and  dearth  of 
all  the  finer  qualities  of  the  soul ;  hence  hate  must 
be  met,  first  with  courage,  which  leads  to  power, 
and  power  must  be  tempered  with  love  and  mercy, 
ere  the  final  victory  is  won. 


"Listen,  I  will  tell  thee 

The  song  Creation  sings, 
From  the  Humming  of  bees  in  the  heather 

To  the  flutter  of  angels'  wings. 
An  echo  rings  for  ever, 

The  sound  can  never  cease  ; 
It  speaks  to  God  of  glory, 
It  speaks  to  earth  of  peace." 

—  32  — 


THE  INVISIBLE  WORLDS 

There  is  a  world  within  and  around  us  other 
than  the  material  world  or  the  visible  world  where 
the  mind  may  wake  to  consciousness,  and  where  the 
vast  results  of  spiritual  existence  are  garnered  and 
stored  and  utilized  in  the  immortal  development 
of  the  soul.  From  this  supernatural  realm  the 
man  Jesus  poured  forth  His  divine  philosophy  of 
life ;  here  Dante  wrote  his  "mystic  unfathomable 
song";  here  Shakespeare  wove  for  our  delight  all 
those  noble  qualities  of  the  soul;  and  here  the 
blind  Milton  dwelt  in  "the  light  that  never  was 
on  land  or  sea."  When  the  soul  has  developed  the 
power  to  wake  to  consciousness  in  the  invisible, 
realms  of  being,  it  matters  not  what  the  circum- 
stances of  life  may  be. 

"His  eyes  may  open  on  a  prison  cell,  but  the  bared 
walls  glow  with  imagery, 

His  ears  may  be  filled  with  execration,  but  are  lis- 
tening to  the  music  of  sweet  thoughts  ; 

He  may  dwell  in  a  hovel  with  a  hero's  heart,  and 
canopy  his  penury  wtih  peace, 

For  mind  is  a  kingdom  to  the  man  who  gathereth 
his  pleasures  from  knowledge." 

"Man  is  a  Resplendent  spiritual  being  and  within 
each  soul  infinity  lies  hidden."  The  transitory  ma- 
terial or  physical  realms  which  address  themselves 
to  the  five  senses,  are  only  the  threshold  to  the 
inner  invisible  realms  of  the  soul.  Man  has  al- 
ready outgrown  his  environment  with  mere  matter 
and  he  is  not  content  —  all  his  faculties  are  not 
filled  —  he  feels  that  his  real  self  will  not  be  satis- 
fied with  time  and  worlds.  His  soul  speaks  "of 
power  illimitible,"  "wisdom  unsearchable" ;  and 
at-one-ness  with  the  Author  and  Maker  of  All." 
Constantly  before  him  the  "unknown  is  breaking 
into  light,"  and  "the  universal  heart  beats  with  the 
promise  of  divinity." 


TOGETHER 

You  are  not  lost  to  me,  my  dear, 
Though  days  and  years  have  fled  ; 

I  never  think  of  you  as  gone, 
Nor  feel  that  you  are  dead. 

There  is  no  death ;  'tis  but  a  dream — 

A  phantom  of  despair. 
Now  clothed  in  garments  of  the  light 

I  see  you  smiling  there. 
And  not  alone  my  struggling  feet 

Press  onward  day  by  day — 
One  walks  with  me  whose  heart  was  glad 

To  tread  the  self-same  way. 

—  33  — 


AWAKEN ! 

"He  came  unto  his  own  and  his  own  received 
him  not,  but  as  many  as  received  him,  to  them  he 
gave  power  to  become  the  sons  of  God." 

Children  of  the  Dawn,  awaken! 

Glory  fills  the  earth  and  sky. 
Night's  dark  mantle  falls  around  her, 

And  her  legions  soon  must  die. 
For  the  radiance  of  The  Coming 

Breaks  athwart  the  world  with  Light; 
Lo,  His  steps  are  on  the  mountains, 

Splendor  falls  on  every  height, 
And  the  valleys  break  forth  in  singing ; 

Rocks  and  rivers,  hills  and  plain — 
Hush  my  soul,  it  is  The  Coming 

Of  the  God  in  man  again. 

He  who  once  in  Bethlehem's  manger 

Came  to  earth  a  little  child ; 
He  who  once  as  the  Lord  Buddha 

Spake  and  stilled  life's  passions  wild 
Comes  again ;  Ah,  who  may  know  Him  ? 

How  may  He  again  appear; 
He  who  cometh  in  the  Glory 

Of  the  day  that  is  so  near  ? 
Will  He  speak  with  noise  of  trumpet, 

Sounding  forth  His  mighty  word, 
Or  within  our  hearts'  deep  silence 

Will  His  tender  voice  be  heard? 
Will  we  know  Him?    Will  we  heed  Him? 

Will  we  see  Him  face  to  face 
As  He  stands  within  our  presence, 

Clothed  in  all  His  matchless  grace  ? 
Will  we  love  Him,  will  we  serve  Him, 

Have  we  kept  an  inner  shrine 
Where  the  fires  are  ever  burning 

For  the  guest  who  is  Divine  ? 

Ah,  my  soul,  even  now  He  is  waiting ; 

Have  you  closed  and  locked  the  door? 
Lo,  He  standeth  at  the  portal 

Where  He  oft  hath  stood  before. 
Yesterday  He  was  an  outcast, 

Blind  and  of  an  alien  race ; 
Now  He  comes  as  thine  accuser 

And  thou  turnest  away  thy  face. 
Or  perchance  as  one  who  wronged  thee, 

Lo,  He  pleads  for  mercy  there. 
Seek  Him  not  where  thou  wouldst  find  Him, 

For  He  is  not  anywhere — 
Save  within  thine  own  soul's  being — 

And  as  thou  art,  so  is  He. 
Haste,  then,  make  thy  life  a  temple 

Fit  for  One  who  dwells  in  thee. 

—  34  — 


THE  GOD  OF  THE  IDEALIST 

Upon  an  Egyptian  temple  as  Sais  was  engraved 
the  inscription :  "I  am  all  that  hath  been,  is,  or 
shall  be,  and  my  veil  no  mortal  hath  yet  uncov- 
ered. 

The  God  of  the  Idealist  is  the  mystical  unity  of 
Oriental  Theosophy — the  Unchangeable,  Unborn 
Everlasting — the  Universal  Soul  of  the  World.  All 
proceeds  from  the  Creator,  exists  in  the  Creator, 
and  returns  to  the  Creator.  He  is  the  "eternal 
spider  who  weaves  from  his  own  bosom  the  tissue 
of  creation".  All  history  is  God,  "the  Universe  is 
a  two-fold  epic,  one  part  being  the  Journey  out 
from  the  Absolute,  and  the  other  the  return  back 
again — one  the  Iliad,  the  other  the  Odyssy  of  crea- 
tion". 

Man  is  himself  part  of  the  Absolute  ;  his  indi- 
viduality and  personality  are  but  a  detachment  of 
Divinity,  and  the  natural  yearning  or  aspiration  of 
the  soul  is  to  be  in  communion  with  God.  Relig- 
ion is  the  relation  of  man  to  himself  as  to  another, 
and  the  consecration  of  self  to  the  service  of  all. 
I  must  love  my  neighbor  as  myself,  for  as  a  part 
of  God  I  feel  this  love  as  the  instinct  of  my  nature 
— there  is  an  inevitable  bond  of  unity  between  the 
infinite  and  the  finite,  and  the  finite  tends  to  ap- 
proach and  become  absorbed  in  the  Infinite.  All 
partake  of  the  divine  essence,  and  all  are  bound  in 
the  unity  of  love.  "All  is  God",  therefore  the 
Idealist  must  place  before  his  mind  the  ideal  of 
unity,  and  strive  in  all  his  actions  to  attain  it. 
Were  man  all,  were  man  God,  no  necessity  for 
striving  would  exist,  but  as  man  is  only  a  part  of 
the  Absolute,  the  necessity  for  striving  exists.  All 
are  equal  in  idealism,  all  are  equal  in  the  promise 
of  divine  fulfillment,  and  If  in  their  manifestations 
on  the  lower  planes  of  being  some  are,  in  reality, 
unequal,  the  universe  must  be  laid  under  necessity 
to  their  wants.  As  Mrs.  Besant,  in  her  book,  "The 
Masters",  has  written:  "The  sorrows  of  everyone 
must  be  our  sorrow ;  the  pain  of  everyone,  our 
pain ;  and  the  joy  of  everyone,  our  joy."  We 
must  give  because  we  cannot  keep,  we  must  love 
because  we  cannot  hate,  and  we  may  serve  for  the 
joy  of  serving.  The  mistakes,  the  strivings,  the 
sinnings  of  any  are  but  the  self  strugglings  of  In- 
finite Love,  and  it  is  our  great  privilege,  our  great 
joy  to  aid  in  the  Divine  fulfillment  and  become 
Saviors  of  the  world  or  ideals  and  teachers  unto 
others  in  their  journey  homeward  to  God. 


A  theosophical  friend  has  invented  a  capital 
way  to  prevent  the  smell  of  cooking  in  a  house. 
It  is  to  have  nothing  for  breakfast,  and  warm  it 
over  for  dinner  and  supper. 


—  35  — 


THE  MYSTICAL   NUMBER  SEVEN 

Seven  is  composed  of  the  two  first  perfect  num- 
bers, equal  and  unequal — three  and  four ;  for  the 
number  two  consists  of  repeated  unity,  which  is  no 
number,  is  not  perfect ;  it  comprehends  the  primary 
numerical  triangle,  or  trine,  and  is  square  or  quar- 
tile ;  conjunctions  considered  by  the  favorers  of 
planetary  influence,  as  of  the  most  benign  aspect. 

In  six  days  creation  was  perfected,  the  7th  was 
consecrated  to  rest.  On  the  7th  of  the  7th  month, 
a  holy  observance  was  ordained  to  the  Children  of 
Israel,  who  fasted  7  days,  and  remained  7  days  in 
tents;  the  7th  year  was  directed  to  be  a  sabbath 
of  rest  for  all  things ;  and  at  the  end  of  7  times 
7  years,  commenced  the  grand  jubilee  ;  every  7th 
year  the  land  lay  fallow :  every  7th  year  there  was 
a  general  release  from  all  debts,  and  all  bondsmen 
were  set  free.  From  this  law  may  have  originated 
the  custom  of  binding  young  men  to  7  years'  ap- 
prenticeship and  of  punishing  incorrigible  offend- 
ers by  transportation  for  7,  twice  7  or  three  times 
7 ;  every  7th  year  the  law  was  directed  to  be  read 
to  the  people.  Jacob  served  7  years  for  the  pos- 
session of  Rachel,  and  also  another  7  years.  Noah 
had  7  days  warning  of  the  flood,  and  was  com- 
manded to  take  the  fowls  of  the  air  into  the  ark 
by  7's,  and  the  clean  beasts  by  7's.  The  ark  touched 
the  ground  on  the  7th  month ;  and  in  7  days  a 
dove  was  sent,  and  again  in  7  days  after.  The  7 
years  of  plenty  and  the  7  years  of  famine  were 
foretold  in  Pharaoh's  dream,  by  the  7  fat  and  the 
7  lean  beasts ;  and  the  7  ears  of  full,  and  the  7 
ears  of  blasted  corn.  Nebuchadnezzar  was  7  years 
a  beast,  and  the  fiery  furnace  was  heated  7  times 
hotter  to  receive  Shadrach,  Meshech,  and  Abed- 
nego.  By  the  old  law,  man  was  commanded  to 
forgive  his  offending  brother  7  times ;  but  the 
Christ's  revealed  religion  extended  his  humility 
and  forbearance  to  70  times  7.  "If  Cain  shall  be 
revenged  7  fold,  truly  Lamech  70  times  7."  In  the 
destruction  of  Jericho,  7  priests  have  7  trumpets 
7  days.  On  the  7th,  they  surrounded  the  walls  7 
times  and  after  the  7th  time  the  walls  fell.  Ba- 
laam prepared  7  bullocks  and  7  rams  for  a  sacri- 
fice. Laban  pursued  Jacob  7  days  journey.  Job's 
friends  sat  with  him  7  days  and  7  nights,  and 
offered  7  bullocks  and  7  rams  as  an  atonement  for 
their  wickedness.  Miriam  was  cleansed  of  her  lep- 
rosy by  being  shut  up  7  days.  Solomon  was  7 
years  building  the  temple,  at  the  dedication  of 
which  he  feasted  7  days.  In  the  Tabernacle  were 
7  lamps ;  7  days  were  appointed  for  an  atonement 
upon  the  Altar,  and  the  Priest's  son  was  ordained 
to  wear  his  father's  garment  7  days.  The  children 
of  Israel  eat  unleavened  bread  7  days.  Joseph 
mourned  7  days  for  Jacob.  The  Rabbins  say  that 
God  employed  the  power  of  answering  this  number 

—  36  — 


to  perfect  the  greatness  of  Samuel,  his  name  an- 
swering the  value  of  the  letters  in  the  Hebrew 
word  which  signifies  7 ;  whence  Hannah,  his 
mother,  in  her  thanks,  says  "that  the  barren  had 
brought  forth  7."  In  scripture  are  enumerated  7 
resurrections — the  widow's  son  by  Elias,  the  Shuna- 
mite's  son  by  Elisha,  the  soldier  who  touched  the 
bones  of  the  prophet,  the  daughter  of  the  ruler 
of  the  Synagogue,  the  widow's  son  of  Nain,  Laz- 
arus, and  our  blessed  Lord.  The  Apostles  chose  7 
deacons.  Enoch,  who  was  translated,  was  the  7th 
after  Adam,  and  Jesus  Christ  the  77th  in  a  direct 
line.  Our  Saviour  spoke  7  times  from  the  cross, 
on  which  he  remained  7  hours ;  he  appeared  7 
times ;  after  7  times  7  days  sent  the  Holy  Ghost. 
In  the  Lord's  Prayer  are  7  petitions,  contained  in 
7  times  7  words,  omitting  those  of  mere  gram- 
matical connection.  Within  this  number  are  con- 
nected all  the  mysteries  of  the  Apocalypse,  re- 
vealed to  the  7  churches  of  Asia.  There  appeared 
7  golden  candlesticks,  and  7  stars  in  the  hand  of 
him  that  was  in  the  midst — 7  lambs  before  the  7 
spirits  of  God ;  the  book  with  7  seals ;  the  lamb 
with  7  horns  and  7  eyes ;  7  angels  with  7  seals ;  7 
kings ;  7  thunders ;  7  thousand  men  slain ;  the 
dragon  with  7  heads  and  7  crowns ;  the  beast  with 
7  heads ;  7  angels  bringing  7  plagues  and  7  phials 
of  wrath.  The  vision  of  Daniel  was  70  weeks. 
The  Elders  of  Israel  were  70.  There  are  also 
numbered  7  heavens,  7  planets,  7  stars,  7  wise  men, 
7  champions  of  Christendom,  7  notes  in  music,  7 
primary  colors,  7  deadly  sins,  7  Sacraments  in  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church — the  7th  son  was  con- 
sidered as  endowed  with  pre-eminent  powers.  The 
7th  son  of  a  7th  son  is  still  thought  to  posess  the 
power  of  healing  disease  spontaneously.  Perfec- 
tion is  likened  to  gold  7  times  purified  in  the  fire  ; 
and  we  say,  "you  frighten  me  out  of  my  7  senses." 
Hippocrates  says  that  the  septenary  number,  by  its 
occult  virtues,  tends  to  the  accomplishment  of  all 
things,  to  be  the  dispenser  of  life  and  fountain  of 
all  its  changes:  and,  like  Shakespeare,  he  divides 
the  life  of  a  man  into  7  ages.  In  7  months  a  child 
may  be  born  and  live,  and  not  before  ;  and  ancient- 
ly it  was  not  named  before  7  days,  not  being  ac- 
counted fully  to  have  life  before  that  periodical 
day.  The  teeth  spring  out  in  the  7th  month,  and 
are  shed  and  renewed  in  the  7th  year,  when  in- 
fancy is  changed  into  childhood.  At  twice  7  puber- 
ty begins ;  at  thrice  7  the  faculties  are  developed, 
manhood  commences.  At  four  times  7  man  is  in- 
full  possession  of  his  strength ;  at  five  times  7  he 
is  fit  for  the  business  of  the  world  ;  at  six  times 
7  he  becomes  grave  and  wise,  or  never ;  at  7  times 
7  he  is  in  his  apogee,  and  from  that  time  decays  : 
at  eight  times  7  he  is  in  his  first  climacteric ;  at 
nine  times  7  or  sixty-three,  he  is  in  his  grand 

—  37  — 


climacteric,  or  year  of  danger;  and  ten  times  7,  or 
three  score  years  and  ten,  has,  by  the  Royal 
Prophet,  been  pronounced  the  natural  period  of 
human  life.  "The  shield  of  Ajax  consisted  of  7 
bulls'  hides."  There  were  7  chiefs  before  Thebes. 
The  blood  was  to  be  sprinkled  7  times  before  the 
Altar.  Naaman  was  to  be  dipped  7  times  in  the 
Jordan.  Apuleius  speaks  of  dipping  the  head  7 
times  in  the  sea  for  purification.  In  all  solemn 
rights  of  purgation,  dedication,  and  consecration, 
the  oil  or  water  was  7  times  sprinkled.  The  house 
of  wisdom,  in  Proverbs,  has  7  pillars. 

From  the  Science  of  Correspondence,  we  learn 
that  the  number  7  signifies: 

What  is  holy  and  inviolable  like  the  number 
three. 

A  state  of  peace  and  rest. 

The  union  and  conjunction  of  good  and  truth 
after  6  days  of  labor. 

An  entire  period  from  beginning  to  end,  thus  a 
full  state. 

The  coming  of  the  Lord,  the  end  of  a  former 
state,  and  the  beginning  of  a  new  state  with  those 
who  are  about  to  be  regenerated. 

The  celestial  marriage,  or  state  of  heavenly 
peace. 

The  celestial  man,  the  celestial  church,  the  celes- 
tial kingdom,  and  the  Lord  Himself. 

Seven  days  or  a  week,  whether  of  days,  months, 
or  years,  denote  an  entire  period,  great  or  small 
from  beginning  to  end,  including  every  state  of 
reformation,  regeneration  and  temptation,  both  in 
general  and  in  particular. 

The  seventh  day  or  sabbath  of  rest  signifies  the 
union  of  the  Divinity  called  the  Father,  with  the 
Divine  Humanity  called  the  Son,  thus  the  Divine 
Humanity  itself  in  which  that  union  has  taken 
place. 

The  seventh  or  sabbatic  year,  also  the  year  of 
jubilee,  after  a  period  of  seven  times  seven  years, 
represented  the  marriage  of  good  and  truth  in  the 
inmost  heaven,  and  a  state  of  celestial  peace  and 
tranquility. 

Seven-fold  denotes  what  is  holy  and  inviolable. 

The  essential  divine  principle,  the  celestial  prin- 
ciple of  love. 

From  the  Secret  Doctrine  we  learn  that  the  odd 
numbers  are  divine.  "The  evil  numbers  are  terres- 
trial, devilish  and  unlucky.  With  the  Pythagore- 
ans the  binary  was  the  origin  of  differentiation, 
hence  of  contrasts,  discord,  or  matter,  the  begin- 
ning of  evil." 

"The  early  Gnostics  claimed  that  their  Science, 
the  Gnosis,  rested  on  a  square,  the  angles  of  which 
represented  respectively  Sige  (Silence),  Bythos 
(depth),  Nous  (Spiritual  soul  or  Mind),  and  Ale- 
thia  (Truth). 


"It  was  they  who  were  the  first  to  introduce 
and  reveal  to  the  world  that  which  had  remained 
concealed  for  ages :  namely,  the  Tau,  in  the  shape 
of  a  Procrustean  bed,  and  Christos  as  incarnating 
in  Chrestos,  he  who  became  for  certain  purposes 
a  willing  candidate  for  a  serious  of  tortures,  mental 
and  physical.  For  them  the  whole  of  the  Universe, 
metaphysical  and  material,  was  contained  within 
and  could  be  described  by  the  digits  of  Number 
10,  the  Pythagorean  decade. 

"This  Decade^  representing  the  Universe  and  its 
evolution  out  of  Silence  and  the  unknown  Depths 
of  the  Spiritual  soul,  or  anima  mundi,  presented 
two  sides  or  aspects  to  the  student.  It  could  be, 
and  was  at  first  so  used  and  applied  to  the  Macro- 
cosm, after  which  it  descended  to  the  Microcosm, 
or  Man. 

"There  was,  then,  the  purely  intellectual  and 
metaphysical,  or  the  'inner  Science'  and  the  as 
purely  materialistic  or  'surface  Science',  both  of 
which  can  be  expounded  by  and  contained  in 
the  Decade.  It  could  .be  studied,  in  short,  from 
the  Universals  of  Plato,  and  the  inductive  method 
of  Aristotle.  The  former  started  from  a  divine 
comprehension,  when  the  plurality  proceeded  from 
unity,  or  the  digits  of  the  decade  appeared,  but  to 
be  finally  re-absorbed  in  the  infinite  circle.  The 
latter  depended  on  sensuous  perception  alone,  when 
the  decade  could  be  regarded  either  as  the  unity 
that  multiplies,  or  matter  which  differentiates,  its 
study  being  limited  to  the  plane  surface ;  to  the 
cross  or  the  Seven  which  proceeds  from  the  ten — • 
or  the  perfect  number  on  earth  as  in  heaven. 

"This  dual  system  was  brought,  together  with  the 
decade,  by  Pythagoras  from  India.  That  it  was 
that  the  Brachmans  and  Iranians  as  they  were 
called  by  the  ancient  Greek  philosophers,  is  war- 
ranted to  us  by  the  whole  range  of  Sanscrit  liter- 
ature, such  as  the  Puranas  and  the  laws  of  Manu. 
In  these  laws  or  'Ordinances'  it  is  said  that  Brah- 
ma first  creates  'the  ten  lords  of  Being,  the  ten 
Prajapati  or  creative  Forces ;  which  ten  produce 
'seven'  other  Manus,  'devotees',  or  holy  Beings, 
which  are  the  Seven  Angels  of  the  Presence  in 
the  Western  Religion.  This  mysterious  number 
seven,  born  from  the  upper  triangle,  the  latter 
itself  born  from  the  apex  thereof,  or  the  Silent 
Depths  of  the  unknown  universal  soul,  is  the  sev- 
enfold Saptaparna  plant,  born  and  manifested  on 
the  surface  of  the  soil  of  mystery,  from  the  three- 
fold root  buried  deep  under  that  impenetrable 
soil. 

"Pan,  at  one  time  absolute  nature,  the  one  and 
Great-All,  possessed  a  seven-piped  flute,  the  em- 
blem of  the  seven  forces  of  nature,  of  the  seven 
planets,  the  seven  musical  notes,  of  all  the  sep- 
tenary harmony. 

—  39  — 


"The  sacred  numbers  3,  4,  7  are  the  sacred  num- 
bers of  Life,  Light  and  Union. 

"The  old  Esoteric  doctrine  teaches  : 

''  'When  the  first  seven  appeared  on  the  earth 
they  threw  the  seed  of  everything  that  grows  on 
the  land  into  the  soil.  First  came  three,  and  four 
was  added  to  those  as  soon  as  stone  was  trans- 
formed into  plant.  Then  came  the  second  Seven, 
who,  guiding  the  Jivas  of  the'  plants,  produced 
the  middle  (intermediate)  nature  between  plant 
and  moving  living  animal.  The  third  Seven 
evolved  their  Chhayas.  .  .  .  The  fifth  Seven 
imprisoned  their  Essence.  Thus  man  became  a 
Saptaparna. 

"Thus  man  became  a  seven-leaved  plant. 

"Numbers  3  and  4  are  respectively  male  and 
female,  Spirit  and  Matter,  and  their  union  is  the 
emblem  of  life  eternal  in  spirit  on  the  ascending 
arc,  and  in  matter  as  the  ever-recurring  element, 
by  procreation  and  reproduction. 

"When  the  Three  and  Four  kiss  each  other,  the 
Quartenary  joins  its  middle  nature  with  that  of 
the  Triangle,  and  becomes  a  cube  ;  then  only  does 
it  become  the  vehicle  and  the  number  of  Life, 
the  Father — Mother,  Seven. 

"The  number  seven  is  closely  connected  with  the 
moon,  whose  occult  influence  is  ever  manifesting 
itself  in  septenary  periods. 

"The  4  was  called  by  the  Pythagoreans  the  Key 
Keeper  of  Nature ;  but  in  union  with  the  3  which 
made  it  seven  it  became  the  most  perfect  and  har- 
monious number — nature  itself.  The  four  was 
'the  Masculine  of  Feminine  form,  when  forming 
the  'Master  of  the  Moon/  for  this  planet  is  forced 
to  alter  her  appearance  every  seven  days.  It  is 
on  seven  that  Pythagoras  composed  his  doctrine  on 
the  harmony  and  music  of  the  Spheres,  calling  a 
"tone"  the  distance  of  the  moon  from  the  earth  : 
from  the  moon  to  Mercury  half  a  tone,  from 
thence  to  Venus  the  same,  from  Venus  to  the  sun 
\]/2  tones,  from  the  sun  to  Mars  a  tone, from  thence 
to  Jupiter  half  a  tone,  from  Jupiter  to  Saturn  half 
a  tone,  and  thence  to  the  Zodiac  a  tone ;  thus  mak- 
seven  tones — thue  diapason  of  harmony.  All  the 
— melody  of  Nature  is  in  these  seven  tones,  and 
therefore  is  called  'the  voice  of  nature.' 

"The  Septenary  was  sacred  to  several  gods  and 
goddesses ;  to  Mars,  with  his  seven  attendants ;  to 
Osiris,  whose  body  was  divided  into  seven  and 
twice  seven  parts ;  to  Apollo  (the  Sun)  between  his 
seven  planets  and  playing  the  hymn  to  the  seven- 
rayed  on  his  seven-stringed  harp  ;  to  Minerva,  the 
fatherless  and  motherless,  and  others. 

"It  is  not  the  Jewish  bible  that  brought  number 
seven  into  prominence.  Hesiod  used  the  words 
'The  seventh  is  the  sacred  day'  before  the  Sabbath 
of  Moses  was  ever  heard  of.  The  use  of  number 

—  40  — 


seven  was  never  confined  to  any  one  nation.  This 
is  well  testified  by  the  seven  vases  in  the  temple 
of  the  Sun,  near  the  ruins  of  Babion  in  Upper 
Egypt;  the  seven  fires  burning  continually  for 
ages,  before  the  altar  of  Mithra ;  the  seven  holy 
fanes  of  the  Arabians,  the  seven  peninsulas,  the 
seven  islands,  seven  seas,  mountains  and  rivers  of 
India,  and  of  the  Zohar ;  the  Jewish  Sephirata  of 
the  Seven  Splendors,  the  seven  Gothic  deities, 
the  seven  worlds  of  the  Chaldeans,  and  their  seven 
spirits ;  the  seven  constellations  mentioned  by  Hesi- 
od  and  Homer ;  and  all  the  interminable  sevens 
which  the  Orientalists  find  in  every  MS.  they  dis- 
cover."— //.  P.  Blavatsky  in  Secret  Doctrine. 


IF  YOU  LOVE  ME  TELL  ME  SO 

If  you  love  me,  tell  me  so, 
Love  would  temper  winds  that  blow ; 
Love  would  make  the  fleeting  hours 
Bring  us  all  life's  sweetest  flowers — 
All  the  gems  that  sparkling  shine. 
Dearest  would  be  yours  and  mine. 

If  you  love  me,  tell  me  so ; 

Speak  the  words  so  sweet  and  low 

That  the  birds  would  wake  to  hear 

Music  so  divinely  dear, 

And   the   stars   that  shine  above 

Would  be  envious  of  our  love. 

If  you  love  me,  tell  me  so ; 
Love  me  dear,  come  weal  or  woe. 
Why  should   I  just  wait  and   wait 
Until  it  shall  be  too  late, 
Hoping,  trusting,  doubting,  fearing, 
When  you  might  be  so  endearing. 


ZADA 

An  angel  came  to  me  one  morn — 

We   communed   awhile — 
And  life  is  brighter,  fairer, 

For  the  light  of  her  sweet  smile. 

We  did  not  meet  as  strangers — 
I  knew  her  when  she  spoke — 

And  all  the  wealth  of  harmony 
Within  my  soul  awoke. 

Her  eyes  were  eloquent  with  the  light 
That  ne'er  shone  on  land  or  sea, 

And  their  liquid  depths  revealed  a  wealth 
Of  soulful   sympathy. 

Her  spirit   lingers   with   me, 

And  her  love,  so  pure  and  sweet, 

Draws  me-  ever  nearer  Heaven 
And  the  blessed  Master's  feet. 

—  41  — 


TO  SAINT  NARADA 

My  love  for  you  is  a  principle, 

A  clear,  undying  flame 
That  warms  and  thrills  and  inspires  me, 

And  beckons  to  heights  of  fame. 
You  are  my  Saint  Narada, 

My  light  and  my  guiding  star, 
And  I  am  the  poet  Usana, 

And  we  came  from  a  land  afar ; 
Always  our  spirits  commingled, 

Somewhere  in  etheric  space ; 
But  my  soul  came  into  being 

Within  the  light  of  your  face. 
We  stood  in  primeval  shadows, 

We  listened  while  Sappho  sung, 
We  have  spoken  in  every  language 

Since  we  met  when  the  world  was  young. 
We  witched  while  the  Christ  was  nailed 

Unto  the  cruel  cross ; 
We  have  erred  and  judged  without  mercy, 

And  paid  the  bitter  cost. 
Always  we  two  were  fated 

To  meet,  then  separate. 
We  drew  to  ourselves  all  Karma 

By  our  fierce  desires  and  hate ; 
And  now  in  the  light  of  knowledge 

Of  all  that  has  been  our  own, 
There  remains  but  the  sweetest  essence 

Of  the  love  that  our  lives  have  known. 
I  called   to  you  in  the  dawning 

Of  our  lives'  most  golden  day, 
And  you  are  here  to  bless  me 

In  a  divinely  beautiful  way. 
As  sweet  as  the  fragrance  of  flowers, 

As  clear  as  a  vesper  chime, 
As  calm  as  a  benediction, 

As  pure  as  a  spirit  divine. 
Thus  into  my  thoughts  you  come  stealing 

In  the  calm  of  a  quiet  hour, 
Bringing  a  wealth  of  healing, 

And  filling  my  soul  with  power. 
You  linger  to  soothe  and  bless  me, 

And  I  thrill  because  you  are  near, 
But  when  I  reach  out  to  possess  you 

I  find  that  you  are  not  here. 


"/  will  be  merciful  to  their  unrighteousness  and 
their  sins  and  their  iniquity  I  will  remember  no 

All,  all,  shall  be  forgotten, 

The  faithless  servitude — 
The    rebellious   sins   and    doubting 

The  cruel  ingratitude. 

All,  all,  shall  be  forgotten, 

O  Love  Supreme,  Divine, 
That  welcomes   to   Thy  presence 

Each  wandering  child  of  Thine. 
—  42  — 


TO  ESTHER 

God  bless  you,  my  dear,  when  the  sunshine  shall 

waken 
Your  eyes  from  their  slumber,  your  heart  from 

its  rest; 

When  song  birds  have  joyfully  carroled  in  greet- 
ing, 
And  Zephyrs  of  morning  have  fondly  carressed. 

God  bless  you,  my  dear,  when  the  morning  is 
calling  you  forth  from  your  slumbers  to 
service  and  praise  ; 

May  you  walk  in  the  light  of  the  love  that  sur- 
rounds you 
As  you  gather  the  flowers  of  life's  happy  days. 

God  bless  you,  my  dear,  when  vespers  are  calling 

Your  soul  from  the  cares  of  the  day  unto  prayer, 

When    flowers    have    faded    and    snowflakes    are 

falling, 
And  song  birds  have  fled  from  the  chill  wintry 

air. 
When  day  has  departed  and  shadows  of  evening 

Shall  gather  around  you  and  you  are  alone 
In  visions  of  midnight  in  waking  or  dreaming — 
If  you  call  me,  I'll  come — for  your  heart  is  my 
home. 


SPRING 
By  A.  M.  L. 

(My  first  published  writing  in  The  Midland,  a 
Presbyterian  magazine,  published  at  Omaha,  Neb.) 

Again  the  frosts  of  winter  have  passed  away 
and  old  Time  in  his  slow,  unceasing  round,  has 
brought  us  the  glad  and  happy  springtime.  The 
spring  rains  are  gently  falling,  awakening  every 
thing  to  a  new  and  beautiful  life.  The  birds  are 
chirruping  among  the  budding  branches.  The 
farmer  is  scattering  broadcast  the  seeds  that  will 
'yield  him  a  bountiful  harvest.  The  prairies  are 
covered  with  a  soft  carpet  of  green  that  will  in  a 
short  time  be  decked  with  wild  flowers  of  every 
imaginable  hue.  As  we  mortals  walk  forth  into 
God's  beautiful  sunlight,  comes  there  not  thought 
of  that  blessed  assurance,  "If  God  so  clothe  the 
grass  of  the  field,  which  today  is,  and  tomorrow 
is  cast  into  the  oven,  shall  He  not  much  more 
clothe  you,  Oh  ye  of  little  faith?"  And  we  are 
led  to  Him,  "The  Giver  of  every  good  and  every 
perfect  gift,"  and  from  whose  hand  all  blessings 
flow.  We  exclaim  with  that  prophet  of  old,  "Oh 
Lord,  how  manifold  are  Thy  works !  in  wisdom 
hast  Thou  made  them  all :  the  earth  is  full  of 
Thy  riches." 

—  43  — 


NOTHING  IS  LOST 

'  Nothing  is  lost.  All  things  in  the  Universe  are 
moving  forward  toward  the  grand  consummation 
appointed  from  the  beginning.  What  we  call  death 
and  decay  is  only  a  change — an  awakening  again 
into  similar  or  more  beautiful  forms  of  life.  Na- 
ture is  a  great  reviver — a  great  economist.  All 
things  fulfill  their  appointed  task  or  mission  in  the 
divine  plan.  The  leaves  fall  to  the  ground  to 
mingle  again  with  the  elements;  the  flowers  we 
love  wither  and  decay,  but  the  seed  or  life  germ  is 
safely  stored  in  Nature's  great  treasure  house  to 
awaken  again  into  beautiful  forms  of  life.  The 
mighty  oak  in  time  succumbs  to  the  elements,  but 
the  acorn  lives  to  perpetuate  the  species.  The 
mountains  are  worn  by  erosion  and  shaken  by  vol- 
canic elements,  but  the  valleys  become  enriched, 
and  where  once  was  only  a  wide  expanse  of  ocean 
fertile  plains  and  mighty  forests  may  reign. 
Worlds  may  be  destroyed  and  mingle  again  with 
the  star  dust,  but  from  the  chaotic  atoms  in  God's 
good  time  new  worlds  shall  be  evolved.  The  lavv.* 
of  nature  are  just  and  equitable,  although  the 
magnitude  of  her  operations  is  beyond  the  compre- 
hension of  our  finite  minds.  We  who  unwillingly 
crush  myriad  forms  of  life  beneath  our  feet  are 
shocked  and  appalled  when  a  cyclone  or  earth- 
quake— perchance  a  war — sweeps  thousands  of  our 
fellow  creatures  from  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  yet 
is  not  the  physical  form  of  mankind  likewise  sub- 
ject to  the  law  of  change  and  decay4? 

We,  too,  are  but  fulfilling  a  part  in  the  great 
cosmic  law  of  the  universe,  but  our  mission  is  one 
of  ineffable  glory  and  splendor,  for  the  soul  of 
man  is  immortal!  What  matter  then,  though  the 
physical  or  material  form  decay  and  mingle  again 
with  the  elements ;  what  matter  though  the  earthly 
house  of  our  habitation  be  shaken  again  and 
again  *?  The  soul  is  capable  of  an  independent 
state  of  existence  and  shall  gather  unto  itself, 
through  successive  reincarnations,  all  experience 
or  discipline  necessary  for  its  evolution  or  return 
unto  the  divinity  which  is  our  birthright,  and  of 
which  we  cannot  be  defrauded  —  for,  truly  : 

"Thou  hast  made  us  for  thyself  and  our  hearts 
are  ever  restless  'till  they  rest  in  Thee!' 


A  perception  of  Truth  is  intuitional  and  the 
masses  always  accord  in  their  estimation  of  glory 
and  shame,  of  vice  and  virtue,  and  courage  and 
cowardice.  A  belief  in  eternal  justice  is  one  of 
the  divine  attributes  of  mind,  and  it  stands  as  one 
of  the  Eternal  Truths  that  whatever  may  be  the 
strife  and  contention  upon  the  earth,  Justice  will 
triumph  in  the  final  ordering  of  all  things. 

—  44 — 


FOR  THE  SWEETEST,  THE  DEAREST 
AND  PRETTIEST 

"For  the  sweetest,  the  dearest  and  prettiest," 
Wrote  the  child  with  the  gift  of  flowers. 

And  the  grandmother  brushed  the  tears  away 
In  remembrance  of  happier  hours. 

I  v 

"For  the  sweetest,  the  dearest  and  prettiest," 
Grandmother  with  snow-white  hair, 

With  kindly  eyes  and  voice  grown  sweet 
With   blessing   and   murmured   prayers. 

Lending  their  grace  to  your  spirit 

Are  the  angels  of  other  days. 
Old   books,  old   songs,  old   friendship 

And   the   dear   old   fashioned"  ways. 

Your   frailty   gives   grace    and    tenderness 

Unto   the   strength   of  youth ; 
Your  advice  is  a  benediction 

Of  love  and  experience  and  truth. 

Blessed  is  the  home  where  you  linger, 

A  loved  and  honored  guest, 
And   blessed   are   those   grandchildren 

Who   nestle  close  to  your  breast. 


Plato's    Critias   contains    the    earliest   record    of 
Atlantis.     It  reads : 

"Among  the  great  deeds  of  Athens,  of  which 
recollection  is  preserved  in  our  books,  there  is  one 
that  should  be  placed  above  all  others.  Our  book 
tells  us  that  the  Athenians  destroyed  'an  army  that 
came  across  the  Atlantic  seas,  and  insolently  in- 
vaded Europe  and  Asia,  for  this  sea  was  then  nav- 
igable ;  and  beyond  the  straits  where  you  place  the 
Pillars  of  Hercules  was  an  immense  island,  larger 
than  Asia  (Minor)  and  Libya  combined.  From  this 
island  one  could  pass  easily  to  the  other  islands, 
and  from  these  to  the  continent  beyond.  The  sea 
on  this  side  of  the  straits  resembled  a  harbor  with 
a  narrow  entrance,  but  there  is  a  veritable  sea,  and 
the  land  which  surrounds  it  is  a  veritable  continent. 
On  this  island  of  Atlantis  there  reigned  three  kings 
with  great  and  marvelous  power.  They  had,  under 
their  domain,  the  whole  of  Atlantis,  several  of  the 
other  islands,  and  part  of  the  continent.  At  one 
time  their  power  extended  into  Europe  as  far  as 
Tyrrhenia  (Etruria  in  Italy),  and,  uniting  their 
whole  force,  they  sought  to  destroy  our  country  at 
a  blow,  but  their  defeat  stopped  the  invasion  and 
gave  entire  freedom  to  the  countries  this  side  of 
the  Pillars  of  Hercules.  Afterward,  in  one  day 
and  one  fatal  night  there  came  mighty  earthquakes 
and  inundations,  and  then  that  sea  became  inacces- 
sible, on  account  of  the  vast  quantities  of  mud  that 
the  engulfed  island  left  in  its  place." 

—  45  — 


PETER 

I  hear  you  when  others  had  forsaken  Him 
Saying:  "Master,  where  shall  we  go?" 

"Thou   hast  the   words   of   eternal   life — 
Thou  art  the  Christ,  we  know." 

And  then  when  the   Supper  was  over 

And  the  Master  washed  your  feet, 
So  shamed  were  you  and  rebellious 

That  such  humble  service  was  meet. 

And  soon  again  you  are  speaking 

In  your  self-confidence : 
"O  Master  whither  goest  thou  *? 

May  I  not  follow  thee  thence  *?  - 

I  love  thee,  my  Lord  and  Master, 

I  would  lay  down  my  life  for  thy  sake." 

And  then  the  Master  told  you 

You  should  deny  Him  thrice,  ere  day  break. 

Impulsive  repentant  Peter, 

Did  not  the  Christ  love  you  best, 
Knowing  that  you  must  suffer 

Far  more  than  all  the  rest  *? 

"Go  tell  His  disciples  and  Peter," 

How  tender  the  angel's  thought 
Of  Peter,  bowed  in  anguish 

With  sorrow  over  wrought. 

And  when  near  the  shore  of  Tiberias 

You  cast  yourself  into  the  sea, 
So  eager  to  greet  the  Risen  Lord 

And  know  indeed  it  was  He. 

And  then  to  hear  the  question, 

"Simon  Peter,  lovest  thou  me." 
One,  twice,  aye  thrice,  you  answer — • 

"Thou  knowest  that  I  love  Thee." 

And  now  in  your  lonely  dungeon 

You  drop  the  clanking  chains 
To  pillow  your  head  on  the  cross  of  Christ 

And  rejoice  in  its  cruel  pains. 

"Not  as  Thou  didst  die.    Nay,  I  am  not  fit." 

Ah,  Peter,  even  now  your  pride, 
Thou  you  have  repented,  and  suffered  and  served, 

You  may  not  die,  as  He  died. 


"And  as  material  life  is  planned, 
That  even  the  loneliest  must  stand 
Dependent  on  his  brother's  hand ; 
So  links  more  subtle,  and  more   fine, 
Bind  every  other  soul  to  Thine 
In  one  great  brotherhood  divine." 

—  46  — 


THE  DESERT 

There's  a  turbulent  land  in  the  limitless  west 

Where  methinks  I  would  go,  if  my  spirit  unblest, 

Should  ever  be  fated  to  wander  afar 

From  the  mansions  of  rest  where  the  glorified  are. 

There  the  winds  with  the  sands  of  the  desert  sift, 

And  coil  and  writhe  and  circle  and  lift 

Out  into  the  far  horizon  line, 

A  spectral  sea  of  treacherous  brine  ; 

Where  the  wraiths  of  travelers  seen  no  more 

Forever  search  for  an  unknown  shore. 

There  the  rabbit  nests  in  the  mesquite  shade 

And  the  wily  coyote  his  lair  has  made ; 

Where  the  horned  toad  and  the  desert  owl 

Are  undisturbed  by  his  dismal  howl. 

There  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain  lies 

Like  a  river  of  death,  the  black  Mai  Pais, 

Where   torrents  of  red  hot  lava  were  poured 

From  the  crater's  mouth,  like  hell  from  a  goard. 

Plowing  a  path  through  the  fertile  plain 

That  may  never  blossom  or  wave  with  grain ; 

Where  gaping  holes  and  caves  of  despair 

Are  fit  for  naught  but  the  rattlesnake's  lair — 

Or  the  home  of  the  "bob  cat,"  who  roams  at  will, 

Out  over  the  foothills  to  plunder  and  kill. 

There  the  eagle  at  nightfall  furls  his  wings 

And  sinks  to  rest,  where  old  Boreas  flings 

His  mantle  of  snow  over  beetling  crags 

And   world   old   volcanic   mountain   snags. 

There  rivers  of  silver  wind  out  to  the  sea 

Through  turrets  of  gold  whose  immensity 

Is  lost  in  the  purple  and   dreamy  haze 

That  falls  over  all  when  night  softly  lays 

Her  fingers  of  rest  on  the  brow  of  care, 

Whispering  of  Heaven,  and  Peace,  and  Prayer. 


TO  E.  J.  C. 

When  self  become  submerged  in  life 
We  are  the  part  we  play, 
The  Ideal  ever  is  the  real 

All  else  must  pass  away. 
My  sister,  in  your  eyes  I  read 

A  heart,  a  soul,  an  aim ; 
You  are  a  woman  nobly  planned 
And  in  "Was  she  to  Blame," 
I  found  the  secret  that  could  thrill 
Responsive   to   your  every  will. 
Be  all  that  you  have  taught  me 

To  think  that  you  can  be. 
Be  Truth  and  Goodness,  mother  love, 
And  grace  and  charity. 
Be  to  the  night  the  starlight 
And  to  the  day  the  dawn ; 
Be   sunshine   after   shadows, 
And  hope  when  hope  is  gone. 

—  47  — 


NIOBE 

Niobe,  the  daughter  of  Tantalus,  according  to 
the  ancient  story,  was  blessed  with  seven  sons 
and  as  many  daughters.  In  the  pride  of  her  heart 
she  dared  to  triumph  over  the"  goddess  Leto  or 
Latona,  who  had  only  two  children,  Apollo,  and 
Artemis,  called  by  the  Romans  Diana.  To  pun- 
ish Niobe  for  her  insolence,  Apollo  and  Diana 
destroyed  all  her  children  with  their  arrows;  and, 
according  to  some  stories  the  wretched  mother 
was  turned  into  stone  through  grief,  and  even 
the  solid  rock  still  continued  to  shed  tears. 

The  story  of  Niobe  became  a  favorite  subject 
for  sculptors :  and  it  is  not  improbable  that  there 
were  once  several  groups  representing  the  mother 
and  her  children.  Pliny  speaks  of  one  being  in  a 
temple  of  Apollo  at  Rome  in  his  time: — "It  is 
doubtful  whether  Scopas  or  Praxiteles  made  the 
dying  Niobe  and  her  children." 

There  are  a  number  of  short  Greek  pieces  in 
verse,  commonly  called  epigrams.  Several  of 
these  epigrams  refer  to  some  figure  or  figiires  rep- 
resenting Niobe,  or  Niobe  and  her  children.  One 
of  them,  in  two  lines,  runs  thus : — 

"The  Gods  turned  me  while  living  into  stone, 
but  out  of  Stone  Praxiteles  has  restored  me  to 
life." 

This  was  evidently  intended  to  express  the  writ- 
er's admiration  of  some  piece  of  sculpture  to 
which  the  chisel  of  Praxiteles  had  given  a  living 
and  breathing  form. 

But  there  is  another  longer  inscription  which 
alludes  more  particularly  to  some  group  of  which 
the  Niobe,  at  Rome,  seems  to  have  been  a  part; 
or  at  least  there  can  be  little  doubt  thai:  the  fol- 
lowing lines  refer  to  a  similar  group : — 

"Daughter  of  Tantalus,  Niobe,  hear  my  words 
which  are  the  messengers  of  woe ;  listen  to  the 
piteous  tale  of  thy  sorrows.  Loose  the  bindings  of 
thy  hair,  mother  of  a  race  of  youths  who  have 
fallen  beneath  the  deadly  arrows  of  Phoebus. 
Thy  sons  no  longer  live.  But  what  is  this4?  I  see 
something  more.  The  blood  of  thy  daughters  too 
is  streaming  around.  One  lies  at  her  mother's 
knees ;  another  in  her  lap ;  a  third  on  the  earth  ; 
and  one  clings  to  the  breastbone  gazes  stupined 
at  the  coming  blow,  and  one  crouches  down  to 
avoid  the  arrow,  while  another  still  lives.  But 
the  mother,  whose  tongue  once  knew  no  restraint, 
stands  like  a  statue,  hardened  into  stone." 


"Titus  Vespasian,  the  Roman  Emperor,  at  the 
close  of  a  day  in  which  he  had  neither  gained 
knowledge  nor  conferred  benefit,  was  accustomed 
to  exclaim,  'Perdidi  diem!' — 7  have  lost  a  day'" 


—  48  — 


GOODBYE..  OLD  HOME 

Goodbye,  old  Home,  a  long  farewell 

To  all  the  scenes  I  love  so  well; 

Goodbye,  old  home,  blest  hallowed  spot, 

Whatever  be  my  earthly  lot, 

Where're  I  go  on  land  or  sea 

Thou  shalt  be  dear  to  memory. 

Should  fortune  strew  my  way  with  flowers, 

I  yet  would  long  for  thy  sweet  bowers ; 

Should  wealth  and  fame  perchance  be  mine 

Here  would  my  heart's  affection  twine. 

Goodbye,  old  home,  I  leave  with  you 
So  many  secrets — pray  be  true. 
Thou  knowest  many  happy  days 
When  life  was  one  sweet  song  of  praise  ; 
Thou  knowest  the  lonely  anguished  hours 
When   death   had   called   our  sweetest   flowers, 
Thou  knowest  the  friends  whose  light  foot  falls 
We  loved  to  hear  within  thy  walls. 
Thou  knowest  the  lessons  that  I  learned, 
Thou  knowest  the  love  that  I  decerned — 
How  sad  it  is  to  bid  farewell 
To  the  old  home  I  love  so  well. 


LIFE'S  JOURNEY 

"He  travels  the  fastest  who  travels  alone" — 

Behold  him  at  dawn  of  day, 
With  face  turned  toward  the  purple  hills, 

Already  far  on  his  way. 
Before  him  gleams  the  goal  of  his  hopes, 

The  Mecca  of  his  desire, 
His  heart  is  thrilled  with  the  joy  of  the  quest, 

His  steed  climbs  higher  and  higher, 
Up  to  the  crest  of  the  sunrise  hills, 

Where,  outlined  against  the  light, 
He  pauses  a  moment  as  in  farewell, 

Then  vanishes  from  our  sight. 

He  travels  the  fastest  who  travels  alone, 

But  he  brings  no  sheaves,  no  grain ; 
His  hand  has  not  lightened  a  brother's  load, 

Or  soothed  a  heart  in  pain. 
Better  to  travel  the  winding  road 

And  linger  awhile  by  the  way ; 
Better  to  live  and  love  and  hope, 

And  do  what  God  bids  us  today. 

For  all  must  come  to  their  journey's  end 
Ere  the  gates  of  Nirvana  shall  close, 

And  whether  a  soul  is  early  or  late, 
Only  the  Master  knows. 

-Published  in  "The  Messenger",  Krotona,  Holly- 
wood, California. 

—  49  — 


"JUDGE  NOT" 

"When  we  condemn  another,  by  that  act  we  con- 
demn ourselves." — R.  W .  Trine. 

Can  we  rightly  judge  another, 

Dare  we  say  that  naught  of  good 
Lingers  with  an  erring  brother4? 

Kindly  words  are  heavenly  food, 
And  the  souls  who  are  denied  them 

Lower  sink  in  depths  of  sin, 
Little  caring  what  betide  them 

When  the  heart  is  starved  within. 
Life  is  made  so  hard  and  bitter 

When  one  toils  unloved,  alone ; 
Many  ask  the  bread  of  kindness 

And  we  give  them  but  a  stone. 
For  this  old  world  is  so  busy 

All  would  take  and  nothing  give. 
Hearts  grow  hard  and  heads  grow  dizzy 

In  the  struggle  just  to  live. 
Words  of  praise  are  seldom  spoken 

Though  we  do  our  best  each  day — 
Flowers  are  kept  for  memory's  token 

When  our  lives  are  worn  away. 
You  who  call  your  self  a  Christian, 

And  who  pass  from  day  to  day 
Some  poor  outcast,  erring  sister, 

Without  one  kind  word  to  say, 
Little  know  your  own  heart's  secrets, 

Nor  what  the  future  will  reveal. 
Some  day  you  may  suffer  keenly 

All  the  scorn  you  made  her  feel. 
You  have  been  so  loved  and  sheltered 

In  a  quiet  comfortable  home, 
While  the  one  you  scorn  was  battling 

With  the  powers  of  evil — alone. 
Then,  besides  you  should  not  judge  her 

Just  because  you  do  not  know 
In  what  guise  the  tempter  won  her 

From  the  way  she  sought  to  go. 
When  this  veil  of  flesh  is  severed 

And  the  mists  that  blind  shall  roll 
From  our  vision,  we'll  see  clearly. 

Soul  may  then  commune  with  soul 
And  the  one  we  thought  so  sinful 

Suffering  may  have  glorified 
Even  as  the  lowly  Master 

Who  by  us  was  crucified. 


Hearts  would  break  'neath   sorrow's  weight 
And  life  would  be  in  league  with  fate, 
If  thou  didst  not  our  grief  abate. 
Sweet  Sympathy. 

Thou  bringest  to  pain  the  balm  of  sleep 
Thou   bidst    the    eyes    of   grief    to    weep 
While  'round  about  the  angels  keep — 
Sweet  Vigil,  Sympathy. 

—  50  — 


FOR   THE   CHILDREN'S    SAKE. 

In  this  New  Age  there  are  many  thoughtless  peo- 
ple who  term  marriage  an  antiquated  institution 
— the  tomb  of  love  and  a  source  of  stupidity  to 
the  whole  human  race.  They  quote  Carpenter  on 
Love  and  Ousprensky  on  Love,  and  Hinton  on 
Love  and  prate  of  love  as  a  "cosmic  phenomena" 
in  which  men  (and  women,  too,  we  suppose,  and 
probably  the  children  "are  mere  accidents."  It  is 
said  that  a  new  sex  relationship  must  replace  the 
old,  that  a  new  morality  and  a  new  sex  equality 
must  replace  the  marriage  law.  and  it  is  boldly 
stated  that  the  new  sex  relationship  of  the  fu- 
ture will  not  be  a  union  for  the  birth  of  children, 
but  a  spiritual  relationship,  a  platonic  relationship, 
if  you  please,  between  man  and  woman — "when 
the  union  results  in  children,  the  state  may  inter- 
fere but  children  apart,  it  is  unbearable  that  the 
church  or  state  should  interfere  with  lovers." 

Voicing  our  regret  of  the  great  prevalence  of 
divorce  cases,  to  a  friend,  a  successful  physician, 
and  a  recognized  philosopher  along  many  lines  of 
thought,  she  frankly  said  to  us:  "Why,  you  arc 
way  behind  the  times,"  and  she  forthwith  brought 
forth  so  many  arguments  to  prove  that  the  divorce 
law  was  often  woman's  only  means  of  escape  from 
what  was  often  a  life  of  slavery — and  a  veritable 
hell,  that  for  a  while  thereafter  I  contemplated 
the  complete  annihilation  of  this  essay.  I  could  not 
write  in  favor  of  divorce,  never  having  been  di- 
vorced, so  I  decided  not  to  write  anything  at  all 
upon  such  an  unpopular  subject.  Then  one  day 
I  read  an  outline  of  my  written  thoughts  to  an- 
other friend,  and  she  said :  "Go  ahead !  Give 
your  ideals  full  swing.  They  are  needed."  While 
yet  another  woman  said  to  me,  "Oh,  yes,  you  are 
just  the  one  to  write  ideally  of  marriage — your 
husband  died." 

But  weighing  everything  both  for  and  against 
the  essay,  we  decided  to  write,  because  we  are 
old-fashioned  enough  to  believe  that  the  mar- 
riage law  is  a  part  of  moral  law,  and  that  men 
and  women  are  not  merely  victims  of  love  but 
masters  of  love  and  arbiters  of  their  fate.  Those 
people  who  boldly  state  that  two  people  should 
live  together  only  as  long  as  passionate  desire 
binds  them  together,  would  put  themselves  rather 
below  the  scale  of  animal  existence,  which  as  it 
rises  in  the  scale  of  evolution  tends  toward  a  life- 
long union. 

In  the  beginning  moral  law  was  embraced  in 
natural  law.  Primitive  man  was  subject  only  to 
natural  law.  The  primitive  form  of  love  was  the 
reproductive  instinct  which  attracted  one  sex  to 
the  other  for  the  purpose  of  re-creation.  The  ob- 
servance of  this  form  of  love  is  yet  seen  through- 
out all  nature,  but  as  mankind  progressed  in  the 

—  51  — 


scale  of  evolution  the  altruistic  or  spiritual  form 
of  love  came  into  existence,  and  this  form  of 
love  is  always  a  promise  of  immortality. 

That  which  is  sought  in  love  is  perfection,  and 
perfection  is  Godr  thus  the  idea  of  love  unfolded 
in  all  its  beautiful  significance  discloses  the  idea 
of  God.  Men  and  women  will  live  and  die  for 
the  attainment  of  perfection  and  it  is  necessary 
that  the  marriage  ideal  should  give  promise  ot 
perfection.  The  Buddha  said  that  religion  is  the 
faculty  of  Love,  and  this  idea  or  ideal  of  love 
has  been  beautifully  expressed  by  a  woman  to 
whom  love  was  in  reality  a  religion. 

"That  love  which  a  young  man  gives  to  a  wo- 
man whom  he  feels  to  be  greater  than  himself  is 
hardly  distinguishable  from  religious  feeling. 
What  deep  and  worthy  love  is  not  so,  whether  of 
woman  or  child  or  art  or  music  *?  Our  caresses, 
our  tender  words,  our  still  raptures,  under  the 
influence  of  autumn  sunsets,  pillard  vistas,  or 
calm,  majestic  statues  or  Beethoven  symphonies, 
all  bring  with  them  the  consciousness  that,  they 
are  mere  riples  and  waves,  in  an  unfathomable 
ocean  of  love  and  beauty ;  our  emotion  at  its  keen- 
est moment  passes  from  expression  into  silence ; 
our  love  at  its  highest  flood  rushes  beyond  its 
object  and  loses  itself  in  the  sense  of  the  divine 
mystery". 

Is  it  then  any  wonder  that  the  man  or  woman 
disappointed  in  love  may  exclaim  in  bitterness — 
with  Milton's  Satan :  "All  good  to  me  is  lost ; 
evil  be  thou  my  good". 

Perfection  in  the  marriage  state  must  be  at- 
tained since  marriage  is  a  part  of  moral  law  and 
divine  law,  and  perfection  cannot  be  attained 
when  marriage  is  entered  into  with  the  probability 
of  divorce.  If  the  perfect  ideal  of  indissoluable 
marriage  is  ever  altogether  rejected  by  the  world, 
society  will  fall  back  to  a  degenerate  state.  Ot 
course  a  spiritual  and  moral  union — an  ideal 
union — ought  to  survive  the  repeal  of  the  mar- 
riage law,  but  to  assume  that  the  ideal  union  will 
survive,  is  to  concede  to  mankind,  a  higher  state 
of  evolution  than  the  great  prevalence  of  divorce 
cases  in  the  world  of  today  would  prove  to  the 
contrary.  Perfection  in  Love  cannot  be  attained 
by  the  marriage  that  is  entered  into  with  the  hope 
of  divorce,  or  by  the  willful  putting  away  of  the 
marriage  tie  with  its  attendant  self-sacrifice  and 
suffering  and  responsibilities.  Moral  law  and  the 
attainment  of  an  ideal  of  perfection  is  always  a 
principle  of  self-realization,  or  soul  evolution — 
and  this  development  is  always  attendant  upon 
the  acceptance  of  duties,  trusts  and  responsibili- 
ties. In  scripture  marriage  is  a  symbol,  whereby 
spiritual  life  is  joined  to  the  temporal  frame. 
"The  Holy  City,  New  Jerusalem,"  is  called  "The 

—  52  — 


Bride,  the  Lamb's  Wife" — and  it  is  so  called  be- 
cause natural  marriage  corresponds  to  spiritual 
marriage  and  spiritual  marriage  is  the  union  of 
true  and  faithful  souls  with  the  Lord.  They  are 
internally  and  spiritually  married  to  Him.  The 
circumstance  of  the  angel's  calling  the  New  Jeru> 
salem,  the  bride  the  Lamb's  wife,  is  conclusive  of 
the  fact  that  it  typified  an  ideal  state  of  Love 
and  Marriage  on  earth,  and  ideal  marriage  is  al- 
ways a  symbol  whereby  man  and  woman  may  at- 
tain to  the  highest  unselfish  devotion  which  life 
affords. 

Within  the  family  circle  is  inculcated  that  that 
discipline  and  self-sacrifice  which  is  absolutely 
essential  to  the  formation  of  character.  The  en- 
thusiasts of  sexual  revolution  would  seem  to  err 
in  putting  the  welfare  of  the  state  before  that  of 
the  family.  It  is  said  that  each  child  should  be  a 
ward  of  the  state  to  be  maintained  and  educated 
with  the  supreme  object  or  end  in  view,  of  mak- 
ing an  ideal  citizen.  It  is  said  that  maternity  or 
child-bearing  is  only  an  economical  problem  to  be 
dealt  with  in  its  relation  to  the  state.  They  for- 
get that  the  family  has  always  been  a  unit  before 
the  state,  and  that  love  of  home  is  the  very  found- 
ation and  essense  of  all  patriotism.  The  Spartan 
mother  who  told  her  sons  to  fall  -upon  their 
swords  rather  than  surrender  to  the  enemy,  first 
instilled  within  their  hearts  the  virtue  of  filial 
obedience.  The  family  has  always  been  the  in- 
spiration of  all  healthy  'national  life,  and  the 
gradual  and  insiduous  repeal  of  social  law  is  a 
grave  error  and  one  fraught  with  momentous  im- 
port in  the  spiritual  evolution  of  the  race.  The 
grave  in  the  backwoods  where  the  pioneer  and  his 
faithful  companion  were  buried  side  by  side,  tells 
the  history  of  the  development  of  our  American 
nation,  and  as  long  as  hardship  and  privation  and 
self-sacrifice  may  be  endured,  American  ideals  are 
safe.  It  is  only  when  wealth  and  luxury  begin 
to  eat  into  the  heart  of  a  nation,  which  is  the 
home,  that^  civilization  and  spirituality  is  endang- 
ered. Rome  survived  until  luxury  and  the  lax- 
ity of  the  marriage  law  undermined  the  state,  and 
all  readers  of  classic  liaterature  know  what  a  state 
of  morals,  or  lack  of  morals,  intervened  and  made 
necessary  the  coming  of  the  great  founder  of 
Christianity,  who  proclaimed  "monogamy  holy  and 
indissoluable."  The  evolution  of  humanity  moves  in 
cycles — history  repeats  itself.  Rome  fulfilled  her 
mission  to  the  world  in  the  evolution  of  many 
great  souls,  then  she  sank  into  barbarism. 

It  is  sad  indeed,  when  one  reads  history  in  the 
light  of  Time.  It  should  always.be  read  in  the 
Light  of  Eternity. 

We  are  glad  to  say  that  with  all  the  boasted 
emancipation  of  the  American  woman  and  the 

—  53  — 


great  number  of  divorce  cases,  there  is  yet  a 
yearning  for  the  normal  lot — for  the  sweet  home 
life.  Women  desire  love,  dependence  and  self- 
surrender  for  the  very  natural  reason  that  Pope 
the  poet-philosopher,  set  forth  in  his  ideal  of  a 
perfect  union  of  the  sexes. 

"For  woman  is  not  undeveloped  man 

But  diverse ;  could  we  make  her  as  the  man, 

Sweet  love  were  slain ;  his  dearest  bond  is  this 

Not  like  to  like,  but  like  in  difference, 

Distinct    in    individualities, 

But  like  each  other  even  as  those  who  love." 

A  man  cannot  give  his  best  to  the  world,  either 
in  the  labor  of  his  hands  or  his  brains — if  he  may 
not  return  in  the  evening  to  the  sacred  influence 
of  a  peaceful  and  happy  home,  and  home — ah, 
what  is  home  without  children.  To  the  child- 
less man  and  woman  I  would  say — you  have  been 
denied  children  that  you  may  learn  the  lesson  of 
unselfishness — adopt  two  or  three — or  a  dozen 
orphans,  only  be  sure  to  stop  adopting  before 
your  home  becomes  an  institution,  which  is  the 
other  extreme  of  a  modern  city  apartment  house 
where  no  dogs,  cats  or  children  are  allowed. 

It  is  held  that  hopeless  uncongeniality  or  "in- 
compatibility of  temper"  is  a  justifiable  cause  of 
divorce,  but  it  is  far  more  excusable  than  infidel- 
ity in  the  marriage  relation  which  should  be  the 
only  cause  for  divorce  other  than  insanity.  Such 
reasons  for  divorce  as  drunkenness  or  addiction 
to  the  drug  habit  are  now  obsolete,  and  as  to  "in- 
compatibility of  temper,"  it  is  in  reality  a  proof 
of  a  rather  advanced  stage  of  evolution.  We  can 
imagine  that  the  bride  obtained  by  capture  would 
be  rather  docile  and  submissive,  and  Herbert 
Spencer  in  one  of  his  sociological  works  insinu- 
ates that  all  the  so-called  graces  of  women  are 
in  reality  forms  of  hypocrisy.  "In  a  savage  state 
of  society  woman  was  compelled  by  necessity  to 
practice  deception  in  order  to  please  her  brutal 
lord  and  secure  favor  in  his  eyes  among  danger- 
ous rivals.  She  must  return  caresses  for  blows, 
smiles  for  discourtesy.  She  dared  not,  she  could 
not  accomplish  her  purpose  by  force,  so  she  be- 
came an  expert  in  domestic  diplomacy.  Thus  a 
false  relationship  came  about  in  the  marriage 
state. 

What  the  twentieth  century  woman  would  do 
with  the  husband  who  attempts  to  beat  her  re- 
mains to  be  told.  We  venture  the  assertion  that 
her  physical  and  mental  training  combined  will 
be  sufficient  to  maintain  her  rights  without  re- 
course to  the  divorce  courts.  Somehow  we  have 
always  failed  in  pity  for  the  woman  whose  hus- 
band beat  her — but  just  where  the  line  may  be 
drawn  against  weakness  and  submissivcness  is 

—  54  — 


rather  hard  to  predict,  for  it  takes  all  sorts  of 
people  to  make  up  a  world. 

When  the  writer  was  editor  of  a  newspaper  in 
New  Mexico,  we  were  given  first  hand  informa- 
tion by  an  eye-witness  of  a  rather  extreme  cast 
of  "incompatibility  of  temper".  A  man  in  the 
town  drove  his  wife  away  from  home  at  the  point 
of  a  revolver.  In  fact,  he  did  take  a  few  sho-ts 
at  her  as  she  fled  to  a  neighbor's  house.  We 
wrote  up  the  occurrence  for  our  paper,  not  spar- 
ing the  desperado,  and  the  day  the  paper  came  out, 
we  too,  looked  into  the  muzzle  of  a  loaded  gun. 
We  were  told  to  retract  and  I  believe  we  got  out 
a  special  edition,  so  that  there  might  be  no  delay 
in  our  execution  for  the  woman  came  also,  and 
reprimanded  us  severely  for  our  interference  in 
their  conjugal  happiness.  The  man  gave  no  rea- 
son for  the  "gun  play",  but  had  they  lived  in 
Hollywood  they  might  have  excited'  rio  com- 
ment as  everybody  would  have  supposed  that 
they  were  rehearsing  for  the  "movies". 

The  desire  for  self-assertion  impels  many  wo- 
men to  seek  a  separate  existence.  It  is  difficult  to 
avoid  a  desire  for  self-assertion,  when  one's  good 
qualities  and  evil  qualities  are  taken  as  a  mat- 
ter of  course.  When  the  full  conjugal  tribute  is 
paid  to  the  ego,  it  seldom  assumes  offensive  forms. 
Democracy  is  only  beginning  to  revolutionize  all 
forms  of  government  and  we  cannot  yet  hope  for 
its  complete  dominion  in  the  household.  How- 
ever, we  are  glad  to  say  that  when  a  woman  mar- 
ries, in  our  commonwealth  at  least,  she  no  longer 
comes  "under  the  hand  of  her  husband,"  Up  to 
the  sixteenth  century  women  were  slaves,  doing  all 
the  drudgery;  they  plowed  the  ground  with  a 
crooked  stick ;  they  cut  the  grain  with  a  knife,  and 
thrashed  out  the  wheat  with  a  club,  then  ground 
it  into  flour  between  a  couple  of  rocks,  baking  the 
bread  in  the  ashes  of  an  open  fire.  And  all  this 
while  her  liege  lord  was  busy  about  the  definition 
of  spirit  or  "universals"  or  the  origin  of  the  race. 
Sometimes  in  the  sixteenth  century — ayev  even  in 
the  tenth  and  eleventh  centuries — many  thou- 
sands of  men  were  gathered  together  in  woods  or 
canyons  of  the  mountains  for  the  discussion  of 
philosophical  themes ;  now,  if  sometimes  the  men 
are  left  at  home  to  take  care  of  the  babies  while 
women  congregate  at  club  or  lodge  meetings,  to 
likewise  discuss  transcendental  themes,  it  is  only 
because  the  great  wheel  of  life  has  turned  part 
way  'round  and  the  men  find  themselves  bound 
to  the  earth  side  while  women  are  lifted  up  into 
the  upper  air  of  freedom  and  emancipation  from 
drudgery.  Woman  now  has  her  legal  rights  as 
well  as  her  spiritual  rights,  although  we  did  hear 
of  a  woman  who  applied  for  a  divorce  or  was  di- 
vorced in  order  that  she  might  "make  her  will." 

—  55  — 


One  «t>f  the  things  that  adds  fuel  to  the  divorce 
courts  is  the  average  American's  love  of  publicity. 
It  is  considered  quite  a  compliment  for  the  af- 
fairs of  the  home  to  be  "aired"  in  the  society  col- 
umns of  the  Sunday  newspaper.  In  this  the  ideals 
of  the  average  American  home  differ  from  the 
average  English  home.  The  average  Englishman 
has  a  conviction  that  privacy  is  his  invaluable 
privilege,  but  the  average  American  rather  .loves 
a  house  set  upon  a  hill,  and  it  may  even  be  a 
glass  house,  for  he  has  learned  not  to  throw 
stones ;  in  fact,  we  are  rather  too  tolerant  of  some 
well-known  evils,  especial^  the  divorce  evil. 

For  centuries  the  domestic  infelicities  of  tem- 
peramental people  has  been  dished  up  in  some 
form  or  other  to  satisfy  a  morbid  sensation-loving 
public,  and  the  press  of  today  is  yet  making  capi- 
tal of  wedded  unhappiness,  until  "to  wed  or  not 
to  wed  has  become  the  theme  of  the  modern  Ham- 
let's soliloquy  ;  but  standing  out  in  beautiful  relief 
against  all  pictures  of  wedded  unhappiness,  we 
have  in  history  the  life-long  devotion  of  Vittoria 
Colonno  and  Ferdinand  d'Avalos,  Alfiri  and  the 
Countess  of  Albany,  the  Brownings,  and  thousands 
— yes,  millions — of  others,  the  influence  of  whose 
lives  has  gone  out  from  the  home  to  sweeten  the 
world. 

A  husband  and  wife  should  be  friends  in  the 
highest  and  truest  sense  of  the  word  ;  and  friend- 
ship rightly  u/iderstood  embraces  mutual  trust, 
sympathy,  devotion,  and  love  :  in  fact,  love  rightly 
understood  embraces  all  other  virtues. 

The  ideal  wedded  love  is  friendship  love — such 
love  as  that  of  the  Countes  of  Albany  and  Alfiri. 
In  his  autobiography  Alfiri  states  that  he  is  in- 
debted to  her  for  all  that  he  had  achieved ;  and 
the  following  is  his  beautiful  tribute  to  her: 

"As  the  years  go  on,  and  as  time  robs  my  friend 
of  her  youth  and  beauty,  I  cling  to  her  more  and 
more.  Through  her  my  brightest  nature  has  been 
developed,  my  soul  refined  and  elevated.  Setween 
us  there  has  never  been  deceit,  disloyalty,  distrust 
or  untruth.  Quitting  this  world,  in  which  she  has 
been  my  only  comforter,  I  shall  know  no  other 
sorrow  save  that  of  leaving  her.  When  that  time 
comes  I  implore  heaven  to  call  me  first." 

A  woman  need  not,  because  she  has  taken  the 
vows  of  chastity  to  one  man,  shut  out  from  her 
life  all  inspiration  of  friendships.  Our  ideals  find 
personification  where  they  will,  and  the  love  that 
a  woman  gives  to  the  Christ  sometimes  finds  per- 
sonification in  one  who  is  not  altogether  divine, 
but  it  is  essential  always  that  the  beloved  individ- 
ual be  kept  at  the  line  of  distance  which  is  in- 
cluded in  the  ideal,  for  fidelity  and  life-long  devo- 

—  56  — 


tion  to  the  marriage  vow  is  absolutely  essential  to 
the  preservation  of  family,  society  and  civilization. 
It  is  all  well  enough  to  talk  about  children  being 
cared  for  by  the  State,  but  moral  law  posits 
self-development,  and  the  discipline  of  family  life 
with  its  attendant  self-sacrifice  tends  to  the  up- 
building of  character  in  the  children.  We  cannot 
hope  for  much  in  the  way  of  self-realization  when 
a  child  is  educated  and  cared  for  by  the  State.  The 
greatest  law  that  has  been  framed  in  recent  years 
is  the  mothers'  pension  law :  that  law  tends  to  keep 
the  home  intact  against  widowhood  and  poverty. 
The  writer  is  a  great  believer  in  old-age  pensions, 
and  all  sorts  of  pensions,  but  let  us  safeguard  the 
home,  and  not,  for  the  sake  of  re-population,  put  a 
premium  upon  immorality  and  promiscuity,  as 
France  is  doing  today. 

I  am  going  to  close  this  essay  with  a  letter — a 
letter  received  thirty  years  ago — from  a  woman 
then  much  older  than  myself,  my  pastor's  wife  (the 
wife  of  a  United  Presbyterian  minister),  wlfbsc 
friendship  enriched  my  girlhood  days,  and  the 
memory  of  whose  love  has  been  the  inspiration  of 
every  beautiful  ideal.  I  was  an  ungainly,  awk- 
ward country  girl  when  I  first  met  her,  but  she 
invited  me  to  her  home  and  introduced  me  to  other 
young  people  whom  I  met  there,  and  when  I  came 
from  school  to  teach  school  she  wrote  to  me,  and 
when  I  wrote  to  her,  telling  her  of  my  marriage, 
she  wrote  me  this  letter.  It  is  yellow  with  age 
now,  like  the  other  letters  received  from  her  which 
have  been  treasured  throughout  the  years,  and  as  I 
bring  them  again  from  their  receptacle,  to  copy  for 
these  pages,  the  spirit  of  the  writer  comes  to  me  in 
blessing,  as  though  she  understood  why  I  give  to 
others  that  which  I  love  so  dearly.  Once,  years 
ago,  the  same  dear  friend  came  to  me  in  a  dream, 
when  I  had  been  troubled  because  I  had  seemingly 
drifted  away  from  the  faith  which  she  had  taught 
me  to  love;  but  even  then  it  seemed  she  under- 
stood— and  maybe,  if  I  could  be  with  her  now  she 
would  be  in  sympathy  with  my  ideals.  And  after 
you  have  read  that  letter  will  you  not  read  again 
a  great  _ teacher's  admonition  to  "Self-Sacrifice  and 
Renunciation"  ? 

Rock  Valley,  Iowa, 

June  the  22d,  1891. 
My  dear  Friend  Annie : 

Your  letter  was  indeed  a  surprise  to  us,  but 
from  the  depth  of  our  hearts  we  wish  you  rich 
blessings  and  happiness. 

If  they  cannot  be  found  in  married  life,  I  know 
not  where  to  search  for  them.  I  believe  it  is  the 
true  life,  the  satisfying  life,  the  contented  life.  Of 
course  there  is  nothing  perfect  here  below,  but  it 
is  ours  to  make  it  as  nearly  so  as  possible. 

—  57  — 


A  happy  home  is  not  for  the  husband  or  wife  to 
make  alone,  but  both  together,  each  doing  his  and 
her  share. 

The  kindest  and  the  happiest  pair 

Will  have  occasion  to  forbear, 

And  something  every  day  they  live 

To  pity  and  perchance  forgive. 

The  love  that  cheers  life's  greatest  stage, 

Proof  against  sickness  and  old  age, 

Is  gentle,  delicate  and  kind, 

To  faults  compassionate  or  blind, 

And  will  with  sympathy  endure 

Those  evils  it  will  gladly  cure. 

And  another  has  said: 

"Though   fools   spurn   Hymen's  gentle   powers, 
We   who  improve  his  golden  hours 

By  sweet  experience  know 
That  marriage  rightly  understood 
Gives  to  the  loyal  and  the  good 
A  paradise  below." 

May  the  vows  you  have  taken  prove  to  you  and 
yours  not  only  a  paradise  below,  but  may  it  be  a 
union  to  continue  all  through  the  ages  of  eternity. 
Lovingly  yours, 

Mrs.  C.  L.  McCracken. 


INDIAN  MOTHER'S  SLUMBER  SONG 

Sleep,  baby,  sleep, 

Breathe  the  breath  of  morning ; 
Drink  fragrance  from  the  fresh-blown  flower, 

Thy  gentle  brow  adorning. 

Sleep,  baby,  sleep, 

Rocked  by  the  flowing  river, 
While  for  thy  gentle  spirit  gift 

Lindoyah  thanks  the  giver. 

Sleep,  baby,  sleep, 

Sweet  be  thy  rosy  dreaming, 
While  o'er  the  flowing  spirit  land 

Thy  blessed  eyes  are  gleaming. 

Sleep,  baby,  sleep, 

No  danger  here  is  biding, 
While  soft  along  the  greenwood  bank 

The  light  canoe  is  gliding.  — Selected. 


"Answer  me,  burning  stars  of  night, 

Where  hath  the  spirit  gone 
That  past  the  reach  of  human  sight, 

Even  as  a  breeze  hath  flown*? 
And  the  stars  answer  me :  'We  roll 

In  light  and  power  on  high, 
But  of  the  never-dying  soul, 

Ask  that  which  cannot  die!'" 

—  58  — 


SELF-SACRIFICE  AND  RENUNCIATION 

We  talk  of  the  Great  Renunciation,  we  speak 
of  Those,  before  whose  feet  we  bow,  as  Those 
who  have  "made  the  Great  Renunciation".  Do 
not  dream  that  They  made  Their  renunciation 
when,  standing  on  the  threshold  of  Nirvana,  They 
heard  the  sobbing  of  the  world  in  anguish  and 
turned  back  to  help.  It  was  not  then  that  the  real, 
the  great  renunciation  was  made.  They  made  it 
over  and  over  again  in  the  hundreds  of  lives  that 
lie  behind  Them.  They  made  it  by  the  constant 
practice  of  the  small  renunciations  of  life,  by  con- 
tinual pity,  by  daily  sacrifices  in  common  human 
life.  They  did  not  make  it  at  the  last  hour  when, 
on  the  threshold  of  Nirvana,  but  through  the 
courses  of  lives  of  sacrifice,  until  at  last  the  law  of 
Sacrifice  became  so  much  the  law  of  Their  being 
that  They  could  not  do  anything  at  the  last  mo- 
ment, when  the  choice  was  Theirs,  save  register 
on  the  Record  of  the  universe  the  innumerable  re- 
nunciations of  the  past. 

You  and  I,  my  brothers,  today  if  we  will,  may 
begin  to  make  the  Great  Renunciation,  and  if  we 
do  not  begin  it  in  the  daily  life,  in  our  hourly 
dealings  with  our  fellows,  be  assured  we  should 
not  be  able  to  make  it  when  we  stand  on  the  moun- 
tain crest.  The  habit  of  daily  sacrifice,  the  habit 
of  thinking,  the  habit  of  always  giving  and  not 
taking,  only  thus  shall  we  learn  to  make  that  which 
the  outer  world  calls  the  Great  Renunciation.  We 
dream  of  great  deeds  of  heroism,  we  dream  of 
mighty  ordeals,  we  think  that  the  life  of  disciple- 
ship  consists  in  tremendous  trials  for  which  the 
disciple  prepares  himself,  towards  which  he 
marches  with  open  vision,  and  then  by  one  supreme 
effort,  by  one  brave  struggle,  gains  his  crown  of 
victory. 

Brothers,  it  is  not  so.  The  life  of  the  disciple 
is  one  long  series  of  petty  renunciations,  one  long 
series  of  daily  sacrifices}  one  continual  dying  in 
time  in  order  that  the  higher  may  eternally  live. 
It  is  not  a  single  deed  which  strikes  the  world 
with  wonder,  which  makes  true  discipleship,  else 
were  the  hero  or  the  martyr  greater  than  the  dis- 
ciple. The  life  of  the  disciple  is  lived  in  the  home, 
is  lived  in  the  office,  is  lived  in  the  market  place, 
yea,  amid  the  common  lives  of  men.  The  true  life 
of  sacrifice  is  that  which  utterly  forgets  itself,  in 
which  renunciation  becomes  so  common  that  there 
is  no  effort,  that  it  becomes  a  thing  of  course.  If 
we  lead  that  life  of  sacrifice,  if  we  lead  that  life 
of  renunciation,  if  daily,  perseveringly,  we  pour 
out  ourselves  for  others,  we  shall  find  ourselves 
one  day  on  the  summit  of  the  mountain,  and  shall 
discover  that  we  have  made  the  Great  Renuncia- 
tion, without  ever  dreaming  that  another  act  were 
possible.  ANNIE  BESANT. 

—  59  — 


THE  BOOK  OF  ESTHER 

Lovers  of  dramatic  literature  wil]  find  events  of 
absording  interest  recorded  in  the  Bible  narrative 
of  Queen  Esther.  The  events  as  recorded  took 
place  in  the  Persia  founded  by  Cyrus  the  Great, 
who  was  succeeded  as  ruler  by  Cambysei,  Darius, 
Xerxes  the  Great,  Artabanes,Ahasshirus,  and  other 
kings  down  to  Alexander  the  Great,  who  reigned 
as  conqueror.  The  city  of  Shushan  was  the  capi- 
tal. This  city  was  surrounded  by  a  wall  120  stadia 
in  circumference.  The  palace  of  the  king  was 
built  of  white  marble  and  covered  with  gold  and 
precious  stones.  We  are  told  in  this  most  fascinat- 
ing story  that  there  was  a  banquet  given  in  the 
palace  to  all  the  princes  and  nobles  of  the  land. 
Upon  this  occasion  the  pavilion  in  which  the  ban- 
quet was  held  was  "fastened  with  cords  of  fine 
linen  and  purple  to  silver  rings  and  pillars  of 
marble",  and  there  were  ottomans  "of  gold  and 
silver  upon  a  pavement  of  red  and  blue  and  white 
marble",  and  all  this  was  to  show  "the  riches  of 
his  glorious  kingdom  and  the  honor  of  his  excel- 
lent majesty  in  the  court  of  the  garden  of  the 
king's  palace." 

Now,  in  this  banquet  the  golden  wine  cup 
passed  briskly  'round  and  the  bacchanalian  revels 
shook  the  splendid  pavilions,  and  it  was  not  a 
proper  place  for  a  gentleman,  and  certainly  not 
for  a  woman.  So  the  queen  made  a  feast  for  the 
women  apart  in  the  royal  house  that  belonged  to 
King  Ahasshirus."  Now,  this  feast  was  in  reality 
the  final  seven  days  of  a  festival  which  had  lasted 
as  many  months,  and  the  king  having  exhibited 
everything  in  proof  of  his  greatness,  but  in  reality 
of  his  weakness,  finally  conceived  the  idea  of 
"showing  off"  his  wife  to  his  guests,  as  the  bright- 
est jewel  in  his  crown.  So  he  ordered  that  she  be 
arrayed  in  her  royal  apparel  and  conducted  into 
his  presence  and  the  presence  of  his  guests  by 
seven  chamberlains,  "to  show  the  princes  and  the 
people  her  beauty",  but  she  refused  to  come  at 
the  king's  commandment." 

"The  king  was  very  wroth  and  his  anger  burned 
within  him."  He  called  his  cabinet  together  to 
know  what  should  be  done  to  the  disobedient 
queen,  and  they  decided  to  divorce  her,  to  take 
away  her  crown  and  send  her  forth  a  wanderer 
from  the  palace.  And  when  he  had  divorced  his 
beautiful,  proud  queen,  Vashti,  he  gave  orders 
that  all  the  beautiful  maidens  in  Persia  should  be 
assembled  in  order  that  he  might  choose  another — 
victim,  if  you  please.  Now,  Mordecai,  the  Ben- 
jamite,  who  had  been  carried  captive  to  Jerusa- 
lem, and  who  was  a  Jewish  politician  and  a 
statesman,  conceived  the  ambition  of  presenting 
his  adopted  daughter,  Esther,  who  was  an  orphan 
and  a  captive,  as  an  applicant,  for  the  king's  favor 

—  60  — 


So  he  brought  her  to  the  king's  house,  where  for 
twelve  long  months  she  waited  to  be  presented  to 
the  king.  During  the  probationary  or  ^preparatory 
period,  it  is  recorded  that  Mordecai  "walked  every 
day  before  the  court  of  the  woman's  house  to 
know  what  Esther  did  and  what  should  become  of 
her",  and  so  great  was  his  solicitude  that  he  ap- 
plied for  the  position  of  porter  to  the  palace. 
When  the  hour  of  her  presentation  to  the  king 
arrived,  among  all  the  richly  attired  applicants  for 
the  king's  favor,  Esther  alone  required  nothing 
of  adornment  but  her  natural  beauty  and  modest, 
simple  apparel,  as  she  walked  into  the  presence  of 
the  king ;  and  we  are  told  that  "she  obtained  grace 
and  favor  in  his  sight  more  than  all  the  virgins." 
So  he  set  the  royal  crown  upon  her  head  and  made 
her  queen  instead  of  Vashti,"  and  although  Mor- 
decai was  overjoyed  because  of  her  good  fortune, 
he  admonished  her  not  to  reveal  her  station  and 
her  creed,  while  he  himself  remained  as  an  hum- 
ble porter  before  the  gates  of  the  king's  palace ; 
and  while  in  this  station  he  was  so  fortunate  as  to 
hear  two  conspirators  plotting  against  the  king. 
He  immediately  conveyed  to  the  queen  the  knowl- 
edge, which  saved  the  king's  life. 

Now,  the  king's  favorite  at  court  was  Prime 
Minister  Haaman,  and  this  man  was  in  reality 
"a  power  behind  the  throne",  for  all  the  people 
did  homage  unto  him — all  prostrated  themselves 
in  his  presence,  excepting  the  Jew  Mordecai.  Day 
after  day  Mordecai  refused  him  reverence,  and 
when  Haaman  learned  that  he  was  a  Jew,  one  of 
a  captive  and  despised  nation,  his  hatred  knew 
no  bounds,  and  he  resolved  that  all  Jews  should 
die,  and  accordingly  cast  lots  for  the  date  of  their 
extermination,  which  fell  on  the  month  of  Adyar, 
the  13th  day,  which  gave  twelve  months  to  his 
victims.  Then  he  applied  to  the  king  for  a  de- 
cree in  favor  of  their  extermination,  representing 
them  as  a  race  of  worthless  outcasts,  difficult  to 
govern ;  and  to  win  the  consent  of  the  king  to 
their  extermination  against  the  loss  of  subjects 
who  produced  revenue,  he  promised  the  king 
twelve  thousand  talents  of  silver — about  nine 
million  dollars.  So  the  king  gave  his  signet  ring 
to  Haaman  to  affix  the  decree,  and  the  Jews  were 
thus  condemned  to  slaughter.  So  the  decree  went 
forth,  "to  destroy,  to  kill,  and  to  cause  to  perish 
all  Jews,  both  young  and  old,  little  children  and 
women,  in  one  day,  even  on  the  13th  day  of  Ad- 
yar, and  all  the  spoils  were  to  go  into  the  king's 
coffers. 

Indeed,  it  is  recorded  that  "the  city  of  Shu- 
shan  was  perplexed".  The  king  and  Haaman  sat 
down  to  drink,  but  "the  city  of  Shushan  was  per- 
plexed, and  in  all  the  provinces  there  was  weep- 
ing and  wailing,  sackcloth  and  ashes",  and  Morde- 

—  61  — 


cai,  because  he  was  conscious  that  he  was  the 
cause  of  all  this  misery,  "went  'round  the  city 
crying  with  a  loud  and  bitter  cry.  And  when 
Queen  Esther  noticed  hif  grief  she  sent  a  messen- 
ger to  know  what  troubled  him,  and  thus  the 
queen  heard  of  the  cruel  decree  of  the  one  to 
whom  she  wras  bound  by  karma,  and  whom  she 
could  not  possibly  love,  knowing  his  weakness  of 
character.  What  could  she  do  to  save  her  peo- 
ple ?  The  king  had  not  yet  bestowed  upon  her 
his  guilty  confidence :  besides,  she  had  promised 
Mordecai  not  to  reveal  her  nationality.  Now, 
however,  he  implored  her  to  confess  the  fact  and 
seek  to  gain  the  kings'  mercy  for  the  lives  of  her 
people.  Mordecai  had  asked  nothing  for  himself ; 
his  adopted  daughter  was  queen,  yet  he  must 
save  the  people  from  the  slaughter,  and  he  said 
to  her : 

"If  thou  altogether  boldest  thy  peace  at  this 
time,  then  shall  their  enlargement  and  deliver- 
ance arise  from  another  place,  but  thou  and  thy 
father's  house  shall  be  destroyed,''  and  in  a  mo- 
ment her  answer  was  given : 

"Gather  together  all  the  Jews  that  are  present 
in  Shushan  and  fast  ye  for  me ;  I  also  and  my 
maidens  will  fast  likewise,  and  so  will  I  go  unto 
the  king,  which  is  not  according  to  the  law,  and 
if  I  perish,  I  perish." 

And  the  king  upon  beholding  her  said :  "What 
wilt  thou,  Queen  Esther,  and  what  is  thy  re- 
quest? It  shall  be  granted  to  theei  even  the^half 
of  the  kingdom",  and  Esther,  in  her  tact  and  di- 
plomacy, simply  asked  the  favor  of  the  king  and 
his  friend  Haaman's  presence  at  a  banquet  which 
she  intended  to  give  in  their  honor. 

Her  request  was  granted  and  the  invitation 
conveyed  to  Haaman,  who  was  overjoyed  at  first 
because  of  the  great  favor  the  queen  had  de- 
stowed  upon  him,  but  when  he  again  passed  by 
the  king's  gate,  and  the  Jew  Mordecai  still  re- 
fused to  prostrate  himself  before  him,  he  con- 
fessed to  his  wife  and  his  friends ;  "All  this 
availeth  me  nothing  as  long  as  I  see  Mordecai  the 
Jew  still  sitting  at  the  king's  gate."  So  it  was 
ordered  that  a  gallows  should  be  erected  at  once, 
and  the  king's  consent  asked  for  Mordecai's  ex- 
ecution thereon.  But  the  hand  of  karma  was 
moving  toward  the  downfall  of  the  enemy,  for  the 
king  had  been  reviewing  the  chronicles  of  his 
realm  and  it  was  recalled  to  his  notice  that  Mor- 
decai, who  saved  his  life  against  the  plot  of  the 
conspirators,  had  never  been  rewarded,  but  was 
yet  an  humble  porter  at  his  gates,  and  just  at  this 
moment  of  remembrance  of  Mordecai,  Haaman 
appeared  before  him,  and  the  king,  having  Mor- 
decai in  mind,  said  to  him : 

—  62  — 


"What  shall  be  done  to  the  man  whom  the 
king  delighteth  to  honor*?" 

And  Haaman,  thinking  in  his  vanity  that  he 
was  the  man  whom  the  king  wished  to  honor, 
said: 

"Let  him  be  clothed  in  royal  apparel,  with  the 
royal  crown  upon  his  head,  set  him  upon  the 
king's  horse,  lead  him  through  the  gates  of  the 
city  arid  proclaim,  'Thus  shall  be  done  to  the 
man  whom  the  king  delighteth  to  honor." 

And  the  king  said : 

"Do  even  so  to  Mordecai,  the  Jew,  who  sitteth 
at  the  king's  gate." 

And  in  the  midst  of  the  rage  and  mortification 
of  Haaman  the  order  came  from  the  queen  for 
him  to  attend  the  banquet. 

Now,  this  banquqet  had  been  appointed  as  the 
time  when  Queen  Esther  would  plead  before  the 
king  for  the  delivery  of  her  people,  and  she  said : 

"If  it  please  the  king,  let  my  life  be  given  to 
me  at  my  petition  and  my  people  at  my  request." 
And  the  king,  astonished  to  hear  that  her  life  was 
in  danger — her  people  in  danger — said  : 

"What  people,  what  danger  threatens  thee  *?" 
and  Esther  said :  "We  are  sold,  I  and  my  peo- 
ple, to  be  destroyed,  to  be  slain,  and  to  perish." 

And  the  king  said :  "Where  is  he  who  dost 
presume  in  his  heart  to  do  this  *?"  and  Esther  said  : 

"Thine  adversary  and  enemy  is  the  wicked 
Haaman." 

Thus  the  truth  dawned  upon  the  king,  and  he 
rushed  into  the  garden  for  reflection,  while  Haa- 
man in  his  terror  threw  himself  upon  the  couch 
of  the  queen,  supplicating  her  mercy,  but  the  at- 
tendants muffled  his  face  and  hurried  him  out 
of  her  presence,  and  "he  was  hanged  on  the  gal- 
lows he  had  prepared  for  Mordecai" 

And  we  wish — that  the  king  might  have  shared 
his  fate. 


MILTON'S   SONNET   ON   HIS   BLINDNESS 

When  I  consider  how  my  light  is  spent 

Ere  half  my  days,  in  this  dark  world  and  wide, 
And  that  one  talent  which  is  death  to  hide. 
Lodged  with  me  useless,  though  my  soul  more 
bent 

To  serve  therewith  my  Maker,  and  present 
My  true  account,  lest  he,  returning,  chide : 
"Doth   God   exact   day-labour,   light   denied*?" 
I  fondly  ask:  but  Patience,  to  prevent 

That  murmur,  soon   replies,  "God  doth   not  need 
Either  man's  work  ,or  his  own  gifts ;  who  best 
Bear   his  •  mild   yoke,   they   serve    him   best:   his 
state 

Is  kingly ;  thousands  at  his  bidding  speed, 
And  pass  o'er  land  and  ocean  without  rest ; 
They  also  serve,  who  only  stand  and  wait/' 

—  63  — 


ABSENCE 

It  is  spring  time  in  the  country, 
All  the  fields  are  gay  with  bloom, 

And  the  apple  and  lilac  blossoms 
Fill  the  air  with  their  perfume. 

In  the  fields,  the  lengthening  furrow 
Tempts  the  flocks  of  greedy  birds, 

And  the  tender,  juicy  grasses 
Are  as  manna  to  the  herds. 

All  the  sweet  low  calls  of  spring-time, 
Vibrate  on  the  pulsing  air — 

Heaven  bestows  on  earth  a  blessing 
Every  whisper  is  a  prayer. 

But  I  may  not  worship  with  you 
Mother  Nature — I  must  stay — 

And  it  is  in  vain  you  call  me 

Thru  the  night  and  thru  the  day. 

I  am  one  of  many  millions 
Caught  within  the  cities'  strife, 

Where  the  wheels  are  turning  swiftly, 
But  the  noise  is  life — sweet  life. 

I  am  side  by  side  with  others 

As  we  tread  the  busy  streets ; 
As  we  toil  at  desk  or  type  case, 

And  my  heart  its  kindred  greets 
In  a  world  of  understanding 

As  our  humble  tasks  we  share. 
And  sometimes  we  meet  and  mingle 

Where  we  dine  on  princely  fare. 

But  at  night  when  o'er  the  city 

Erebus  her  wing  has  thrown, 
And  the  soul  is  free  to  visit 

All  the  places  it  has  known — 
Then  I   find   that  in  my   dreaming 

I  am  with  you,  mate  of  mine, 
And  we  wander  in  the  home-paths 

As  we  did  in  Auld  Lang  Syne. 
For  my  heart  is  ever  calling — 

Calling  for  you  night  and  day — 
And  the  country  was  all  sadness 

For  me,  when  you  went  away. 

(Published  in  the  Minneapolis  Journal.) 


The  Priestess  Night  takes  up  her  mystic  censer 

At  Nature's  moonlight  shrine  ; 
My  love  consumes  my  life  in  costlier  incense, 

Beloved,  to  burn  at  thine. 
Shall  I  not  move  thee  from  thy  cold  white  silente 

By  the  strange  strength  of  pain? 
I  will  conquer  all  the  allied  worlds  to  clasp  thee 

If  thou  love  me  back  again. 

—  64  — 


HOW  GOOD  ARE  THE   POOR! 

'Tis   night — within   the   close   stout  cabin   door, 
The  room  is  wrapped  in  shade  save  where  there 

fall 
Some  twilight  rays  that  cre^p  along  the  floor, 

And   show  the  fisher's  nets  upon   the   wall. 
Janet  is  sad  :  her  husband  is  alone, 
Wrapped    in    the    black    shroud    of    this    bitter 

night : 
His  children  are  so  little,  there  is  none 

To   give    him   aid.      "Were    they   but   old,   they 
might." 

She  takes  his  lantern — 'tis  his  hour  at  last: 

She  will  go  forth,  and  see  if  the  day  breaks 
And  if  his  signal-fire  be   at  the  mast : 

Ah,  no — not  yet— no  breath  of  morning  wakes. 
Sudden   her  humane   eyes   that  peer  and   watch 

Through  the  deep  shade,  a  moldering  dwelling 

find, 
No  light  within — the  thin  door  shakes — the  thatch 

O'er  the  green  wall  is  twisted  of  the  wind. 

Yellow,  and  dirty,  as  a  swollen  rill 

"Ah    me,"    she    saith,    ''here     does     that     widow 

dwell ; 
Few  days  ago  my  good  man  left  her  ill : 

I  will  go  in  and  see  if  all  be  well." 
She   strikes    the   door,   she   listens,   none    replies, 

And   Janet   shudders.     "Husbandless,   alone, 
And  with  two  children — they  have  scant  supplies. 

Good  neighbor!      She  sleeps  heavy  as  a  stone." 

She  calls  again,  she  knocks,  'tis   silence  still : 

No    sound — no    answer — suddenly    the    door. 
As  if  the  senseless  creature  felt  some  thrill 

Of  pity,  turned — and  open  lay  before. 
She   entered,  and   her  lantern  lighted  all 

The  house  so  still,  but  for  the  rude  waves'  din, 
Through    the    thin    roof    the     plashing     raindrops 
fall, 

But  something  terrible  is  couched  within. 
#     #     *     *     *     *     * 

And  why  does  Janet  pass  so  fast  away1? 

What  hath  she  done  within  that  house  of  dread  ? 
What  foldeth   she   beneath   her  mantle   gray 

And  hurries  home,  and  hides  it  in  her  bed  ? 
"Ah,  my  poor  husband !  we  had  five  before, 

Already  so  much  care,  so  much  to  find, 
For  he  must  work  for  all.     I  give  him  more. 

What  was  that  noise"?     His  step!     Ah,  no,  the 
wind." 

Sudden  the  door  flies  open  wide,  and  lets 
Noisily   in    the   dawn-light    scarcely    clear, 

And   the   good   fisher,   dragging   his   damp   nets, 
Stands  on  the   threshhold   with   a  joyous  cheer. 

"'Tis  thou!"  she  cries,  and,  eager  as  a  lover, 
Leaps  up  and  holds  her  husband  to  her  breast: 

—  65  — 


Her  greeting  kisses  all   his  vesture  cover; 

"'Tis    I,   good    wife!"    and    his    broad    face    ex- 
pressed 
How  gay  his  heart  that  .Janet's  love  made  light. 

"What     weather     was     it1?"       "Hard."       "Your 

fishing?"     "Bad. 
The  sea  was  like  a  nest  of  thieves  to-night; 

But  I  embrace  thee,  and  my  heart  is  glad. 
There  was  a  devil  in  the  wind  that  blew; 

It  tore  my  net,  caught  nothing,  broke  my  line, 
And  once  I  thought  the  bark  was  broken  too  ; 

What  did  you  all  the  night  long,  Janet  mine'?" 

She,   trembling   in   the    darkness,   answered,    "I? 

Oh,   naught— I   sew'd,   I   watch'd,   I    was   afraid, 
The  waves  were  loud  as  thunders  from  the  sky ; 

But  it  is  over."     Shyly  then  she  said — 
"Our  neighbor  died  last  night;  it  must  have  been 

When  you  were  gone.     She  left  two  little  ones, 
So    small,    so    frail — William    and    Madeline ; 

The   one  just  lisps,   the   other  scarcely   runs." 

The  man  looked  grave,  and  in  the  corner  cast 

His  old  fur  bonnet,  wet  with  rain  and  sea, 
Muttered  awhile,  and  scratched  his  head. — at  last; 

"We  have  five  children,  this  makes  seven,"  said 

he, 

"Go    fetch    them,    wife ;    they    will    be    frightened 
sore, 

If  with   the  dead  alone   they  waken  thus. 
That  was  "the  mother  knocking  at  our  door, 

And  we  must  take  the  children  home  to  us. 

"Brother  and  sister  they  shall  be  to  ours, 

And  they  will  learn  to  climb  my  knees  at  even : 

When  He  shall  see  these  strangers  in  our  bowers,, 

More    fish,    more    food,    will    give    the    God    of 

Heaven. 

I  will  work  harder :  I  will  drink  no  wine — 
Go    fetch    them.     Wherefore    doet   thou    linger, 

dear? 

Not  thus  were  wont  to  move  those  feet  of  thine." 
She   drew   the  curtain  saying,   "They  are   here." 

— Victor  Hugn, 


TO  CHARITY 

Sweet  Angel  of  a  Heavenly  sphere 
How  good  that  thou  dost  linger  here. 
This  world  would  be  a  dreary  place 
Without  the  sunshine  of  thy  face. 
And  Heaven  would  be  far  indeed 
For  weary   mortals  didst  thou  not  plead 
For  us,  and  help  us  when  we  fall, 
For  we   are   erring  creatures  all, 
Who  stumble  where  the  wise  have  trod, 
Upon  life's  stairway  up  to  God. 
(Published    in    "The    Bohemian,"    Fort    Worth, 
Texas.) 


"DO  THIS  IN  REMEMBRANCE  OF  ME' 

Did  you  pass  by  the  one  who  was  weary 

Because   you    were    busy    today  ^ 
Did  you  notice  the  flower  that  was  drooping 

As   you    hurried   along   on   your   way  *? 
Did  you  smile  in  the  eyes  of  a  brother 

Because  you  understood 
That  a  laborer's  coat  may  cover 

A  prince  of  the  royal  blood "? 
Did  you  come  to  your  door  in  answer 

To  the  timid  knock  that  you   heard 
And   listen   with   unfeigned    interest 

To    the   old   story,    word   for   word  *? 
Did  you  go  to  the  one  in  sorrow 

Who  does  not  "live  on  the  hill", 
And  whisper  to  her  the  message 

Of  Peace  and  Love  and  Good-will'? 
Did  you  gather  the  children  around  you, 

All   dirty   and   tattered   and   torn, 
Did  you  carry  the  flowers  and  sunshine 

Into  lives   to  the   shadow  born'? 
Or  are  you   telling  the   Master 

That  your  work  and  your  time  is  so  great, 
That  all  things  of  minor  importance 

Must    wait — and    indefinitely    wait"? 
Then   hear   Him   tenderly   speaking, 

"This   do   in   remembrance  v  of   me," 
And  "inasmuch   as  you   did   it  not," 

"You  did  it  not   to  me." 


OUT  OF  THE  EVERYWHERE  INTO  THE 
HERE 

Out  of  the  everywhere  into  the  here 

Many  are  coming  and  going ; 
Hark  to  their  voices  so  far  and  so  near ; 

How  softly  the  boatman  is  rowing ! 
Greetings  are  spoken  and  farewells  are  said — 

Gladness  and  sorrowing  ever — 
A  kiss  for  the  new  born,  a  dirge  for  the  dead — 

How  today  is  entwined  with  forever! 

Out  of  the  everywhere  into  the  here 

Are'coming  the  hopes  of  tomorrow; 
Lights  that  will  lead  our  world-weary  feet 

Through  the  dark  valley  of  sorrow ; 
Truths  that  will  live  when  the  stars  grow  old, 

Faith  that  will  know  not  deceiving, 
True  worth  that  may  never  be  bartered  for  gold 

And  Love  that  will  bless  the  believing. 

(Published  in  "The  Messenger,"  Krotona,  Hol- 
lywood, Los  Angeles,  California.) 


The  IDEAL  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 
P.  O.  Box  731,  Los  Angeles,  Calif. 

—  67  — 


"BACK  TO  THE  LAND" 

"Enough  if  something  from  our  hands  have  power 
To   live,  and  work,  and  serve   the  future  hour" 

More  than  2000  years  ago,  Aristotle  taught  the 
world  that  man  is  a  moral  being  having  a  per- 
ception of  right  and  wrong,  and  justice  and  in- 
justice and  as  students  of  history  we  have  learned 
that  to  obey  moral  law  is  the  good  of  nations, 
and  that  disobedience  to  moral  law  has  brought 
about  evil  and  destruction.  Moral  law  teaches 
that  natural  rights  exist,  and  in  the  natural  rights 
of  mankind  reside  "Life,  liberty  and  pursuit  of 
happiness,"  but  liberty  of  one  is  dependent  upon 
the  liberty  of  all ;  the  happiness  of  one  is  depend- 
ent upon  the  happiness  of  all ;  and  the  liberty  and 
happiness  of  all  is  absolutely  dependent  upon  the 
attitude  of  one  toward  the  many. 

The  first  step  in  moral  law,  following  the  dic- 
tates of  reason,  is  to  ascertain  that  natural  rights 
exist,  and  the  second  step  is  to  ascertain  what 
these  rights  are,  and  how  they  may  be  conditioned 
or  secured  to  all  humanity. 

Under  present  industrial  conditions  90  per  cent 
of  the  workers  or  wealth  producers  of  our  coun- 
try have  no  home,  no  bit  of  soil,  no  room,  that 
they  may  call  their  own,  and  they  are  often  housed 
in  places  which  are  not  sanitary.  They  are  sit- 
uated from  actual  want  by  so  narrow  a  margin 
that  a  month  or  even  a  week  of  sickness  or  un- 
expected loss  brings  them  face  to  face  with  actual 
hunger,  starvation  or  pauperism. 

Since  the  world  began  civilizations  'have  concen- 
trated human  beings  in  the  cities  and  this  has 
always  meant  the  creation  of  slum  districts  and 
birth  in  the  slums  has  increased  vice  and  poverty 
and  the  death  rate.  We  are  told  that  the  dream 
of  putting  the  people  back  to  the  land  cannot  be 
realized.  Every  dream,  even  the  wildest  dreams 
that  ever  existed  in  the  mind  of  man,  have  been 
realized,  and  surely  those  dreams — those  ideals 
which  are  inspired  by  a  love  of  humanity — have 
within  them  the  very  essence  of  that  power  which 
shall  eventually  bring  about  their  realization  to 
all  humanity.  Agitation  and  organization  is,  of 
course,  necessary.  There  must  be  a  union  of  all 
interested  parties  against  the  forces  which  are 
meeting  our  dreams,  first  with  ridicule  and  then 
— as  will  come  later— -determined  opposition. 

One  of  the  greatest  battles  to  be  fought  out  will 
be  against  the  old  gangs  of  sportsmen  and  cattle 
kings,  and  ranchers,  and  speculators,  who  are  hold- 
ing our  country's  land  in  thrall  for  selfish  inter- 
ests. Our  country  must  produce  enough  food  for 
the  people,  and  the  land  cannot  be  made  to  pro- 
duce until  it  passes  out  of  the  hands  of  specu- 
lators. Our  war-time  harvests  were  the  food  ol 
the  world — but  they  only  proved  what  could  be 
—  68  — 


done  when  every  man  who  could  be  spared  from 
the  fighting  line  went  back  to  the  cultivation  of 
the  soil.  During  the  war  all  farming  was  im- 
proved, and  the  good  work  must  go  on  until  every 
man  woman  and  child  has  been  placed  above  tlic 
danger  of  actual  starvation,  such  as  the  high 
cost  of  labor  on  the  farms  is  bringing  about  in 
our  country  today.  Owing  to  the  high  price  of 
labor  the  farms  are  not  being  made  to  yield  to  the 
utmost  and  new  lands  should  not  be  thrown  open 
to  cultivation  until  the  outcome  of  a  homestead 
entry  will  not  be  99  chances  to  1  in  favor  of  the 
Government  and  against  the  settler. 

All  the  good  homestead  land — long  ago — passed 
into  the  hands  of; private  ownership,  and  today 
nothing  but  arid  land  remains,  which  only  the 
invested  capital  of  the  Government  may  make  a 
safe  and  sane  adventure  for  any  man  who  has  a 
family  dependent  upon  him  for  support.  We 
homesteaded  in  New  Mexico  and  Western 
South  Dakota  and  in  both  instances  "starved  out." 
The  New  Mexico  160  acres  was  a  beautiful  tract 
in  a  valley — between  the  mountains.  It  looked 
good  at  first,  but  the  rains  did  not  come  until 
July  and  August  and  then  it  was  too  late — even 
for  a  vegetable  garden,  for  the  altitude  was 
more  than  4,000  feet  and  the  frost  came  early. 
Although  the  soil  in  these  tracts  is  the  richest  and 
deepest  soil  in  the  world,  it  is  non-productive  with- 
out irrigation.  All  the  "cattle  kings"  located  in 
an  early  day  near  the  springs  or  a  stream  of  water 
and  wherever  the  water  can  be  turned  on  that 
land,  it  blossoms  as  a  rose — alfalfa,  fruit  and 
grain  grow  in  abundance — rejoicing  the  laborer 
with  a  bountiful  harvest.  Millions  of  acres  of 
such  land  in  New  Mexico  Arizona  and  Cali- 
fornia— much  of  it  already  homesteaded  and  de- 
serted by  too  optimistic  settlers — lies  waiting  for 
the  hand  of  proper  development  in  order  to  be. 
made  to  feed  the  teeming  millions  of  the  world, 
whose  cry  for  bread  must  reach  the  throne  of  a 
merciful  God. 

Under  the  old  homestead  laws  the  story  of  the 
pioneer  is  a  sad  story  of  hope  deferred  and  hard- 
ship and  privation  and  actual  want.  Few,  indeed, 
of  the  first  settlers  have  remained  on  the  land. 
When  the  little  money  they  brought  with  them 
was  gone  they  moved  out  and  relinquished  their 
holdings  to  someone  else  a  little  better  fitted  than 
themselves  to  struggle  against  the  adverse  chances 
of  the  elements  that  dstroy,  while  they  journeyed 
back  across  the  desert  in  covered  wagons — heart- 
sick and  penniless — to  the  old  home,  which  had 
passed  into  the  hands  of  strangers. 

The  experiencing  of  homesteading  in  Western 
South  Dakota  and  in  Montana  is  not  much  more 
encouraging.  Sometimes  in  those  sections  the 


rains  come  it  is  true,  but  one  rainy  season  is  fol- 
lowed by  many  periods  of  drought,  and  the  gamble 
is  only  a  little  longer  drawn  out  and  starvation 
inevitable  unless  the  homesteader  has  been  so  for- 
tunate as  to  be  able  to  purchase  a  few  cows  and 
some  chickens  and  to  have  located  near  a  railroad 
town  where  supplies  may  be  purchased  in  ex- 
change for  butter  and  egg  money. 

Employment  in  new  countries  is  rarely  known, 
and  the  homesteader  is  often  compelled  to  leave 
his  family  but  poorly  protected  against  the  rigors 
of  winter  while  he  returns  to  the  city  in  search  of 
a  "job." 

Sometimes  a  woman  homesteader  is  so  fortunate 
as  to  be  abk  to  teach  school,  but  so  many  other 
women  want  that  school,  or  rather  the  salary  de- 
rived from  teaching  that  school,  that  her  situation 
is  rather  precarious  and  unlikely  to  please. 

The  homesteaders  are  the  recipients  of  many 
neighborly  kindnesses.  Tender  hearts  sympathise 
with  them  in  affliction,  and  no  hired  funeral  direc- 
tor is  called  in  to  place  them  in  their  graves. 

Lifelong  friends  are  made  and  the  ties  of  affec- 
tion cemented,  but  leaving  all  these  things  aside — 
the  chances  are  99  to  1  against  the  home- 
steader being  able  to  hold  out  and  get  a  deed  for 
his  land  from  the  Government. 

The  writer  used  her  widows'  right  to  home- 
stead 160  acres  of  land  in  the  Cheyenne  Reserva- 
tion in  South  Dakota,  where,  with  her  two  chil- 
dren, she  lived  for  two  and  one-half  years.  A 
three-room  house  was  built,  a  cow,  some  chickens 
and  a  team  of  ponies  purchased.  The  first  year  it 
rained  and  there  was  a  nice  garden ;  the  last  year 
the  farm  was  fenced  and  50  acres  broken  up  by  a 
tractor,  at  a  cost  of  $4.50  per  acre,  and  disced  and 
planted  to  flax.  The  flax  seed,  also  the  seeds 
planted  in  the  garden,  remained  unsprouted  up  to 
the  first  of  July  and  then  we  came  away,  for  the 
cow  and  horses  had  already  gone  on  a  mortgage — 
lumber  bills  remained  unpaid,  and  there  was  only 
$50  left  to  pay  car  fare  back  to  the  city — where 
we  have  since  remained  with  a  lot  of  other  people 
who  have  their  dreams  and  love  of  the  country, 
but  not  the  experience  we  have  had.  It  used  to 
be  a  standing  joke  among  homesteaders  about  the 
gamble  they  entered  into  with  Uncle  Sam. 

O,  it's  all  a  mistake  to  talk  about  free  land — 
under  present  conditions — and  it's  almost  a  crime 
to  encourage  the  homesteader  to  stake  his  all 
against  the  elements  unless  he  is  backed  up  with 
money  and  implements  and  seed  grain  and  a 
shelter  place  that  may  protect  him  against  the 
intolerable  heat  of  the  summers,  and  the  blizzards 
of  wjnter.  But  why  may  not  those  who  really 
want  to  live  on  the  land,  and  cultivate  the  soil, 
be  encouraged  and  protected  and  educated  so  that 

—  70  — 


they  may  become  important  factors  in  the  world's 
food  production  *?  Why  must  the  settler  take  such 
awful  chances  because  God  has  implanted  within 
his  soul  a  love  of  the  soil  and  the  glorious  sun- 
shine of  the  open  fields  and  woods  and  hills'? 
Why  may  not  our  Government  encourage  farm- 
ing, first  of  all  by  appropriating  to  use  the  great 
reserves  of  fertile  and  tillible  and  naturally 
watered  land  and  giving  it  back  to  the  people — 
the  working  people — and  then  when  the  demand 
for  land  has  increased,  owing  to  agricultural  edu- 
cation in  the  schools,  opening  up  to  settlement 
and  production — by  irrigation — the  vast  tracts  of 
arid  land  ?  Why  are  such  vast  sums  being  appro- 
priated to  the  maintenance  of  parks  and  reserves 
which  only  the  rich  may  enjoy?  Why  need  the 
people  be  compelled  to  pay  such  unheard  of  prices 
for  produce  when  every  family  might  have  an 
abundance  of  food  which  they  have  had  the  great 
privilege  of  making  the  land  produce  *?  It's  all  a 
mistake  to  allot  160  acres  of  land  to  a  family — 40 
acres — even  20  acres  or  less — would  be  enough. 
The  land  should  be  made  free  to  all  and  if  people 
would  not  cultivate  the  soil  they  should  not  eat. 
Other  things — manufactured  articles — should  pass 
current  for  commerce,  but  God  made  the  land  free 
to  all.  He  made  the  land  for  man — not  man  to 
serve  as  slaves  to  the  land — and  when  the  harvest 
fails,  owing  not  to  lack  of  industry  but  due  to 
other  unavoidable  conditions,  he  should  have  un- 
disputed access  to  the  public  warehouses  or  grana- 
ries where  the  surplus  food  has  been  stored.  It 
should  be  said  to  all:  "This  is  your  land  to  use; 
you  have  tilled  the  soil  and  sowed  the  seed  and 
reaped  the  harvest,  which  is  yours  also  to  use,  but 
not  to  hoard.  If  you  have  an  over-supply  of 
food  you  must  distribute  it  among  your  less  fro- 
tunate  neighbors."  Man  may  not  develop  along 
intellectual,  moral  and  spiritual  lines  until  he  is 
properly  fed  and  clothed  and  sheltered,  and  he 
should  be  a  ward  of  the  Nation  and  the  State 
until  his  natural  rights  are  supplied  and  he  him- 
self has  been  educated  and  made  a  factor  in  the 
industry  and  highest  development  of  the  nation. 

Henry  George  in  his  book,  "Progress  and  Pov- 
erty," has  stated  as  the  central  truth  evolved  from 
his  investigation  into  the  causes  of  the  rise  and 
fall  of  nations,  and  the  growth  and  decay  of 
civilizations,  that  the  causes  arising  from  the  un- 
equal distribution  of  wealth  are  tendencies  which 
bring  progress  to  a  halt— that  they  will  not  cure 
themselves,  but  on  the  contrary,  unless  the  causes 
are  removed,  grow  greater  and  greater  until  they 
sweep  back  into  barbarism  by  the  road  that  every 
previous  civilization  has  trod;  that  these  evils 
are  not  imposed  by  natural  laws;  that  they  spring 
solely  from  social  mal-adjustment  which  ignores 

—  71  — 


natural  laws,  and  that  in  removing .  their  causes 
we  shall  be  giving  enormous  impetus  to  progress. 
He  states  further:  "The  poverty  which  in  the 
midst  of  abundance  enslaves  and  embitters  men, 
and  the  manifold  evils  which  flow  from  it,  spring 
from  a  denial  of  justice.  In  permitting  the  mon- 
opolization of  the  natural  opportunities  which  na- 
ture freely  offers  to  all,  we  have  ignored  the 
fundamental  law  of  justice  (for  so  far  as  we  can 
se  when  we  view  things  on  a  large  'scale,  justice 
seems  to  be  the  supreme  law  of  the  universe),  but 
by  sweeping  away  the  injustice  and  asserting  the 
rights  of  all  men  to  natural  opportunities  we  shall 
conform  ourselves  to  the  law  and  remove  the 
great  cause  of  unnatural  opportunity  in  the  dis- 
tribution of  wealth  and  power ;  we  shall  abolish 
poverty ;  tame  the  ruthless  passion  of  greed ;  dry 
up  springs  of  vice  and  misery ;  light  in  dark 
places  the  lamp  of  knowledge ;  give  new  vigor  to 
invention,  and  fresh  impulse  to  discovery ;  substi- 
tute political  strength  for  political  weakness,  and 
make  tyranny  and  anarchy  impossible. 

"These  rights  are  denied  when  the  equal  right 
to  land  on  which  and  by  which  men  alone  can  live 
is  denied.  Political  liberty,  when  the  equal  right 
to  land  is  denied,  becomes  as  population  increases ; 
and  invention  goes  on,  merely  the  right  to  com- 
pete for  employment  at  starvation  wages." 

Of  course  if  Henry  George  is  familiar  with  the 
conditions  of  today,  he  knows  that  the  high  wages 
of  today  are  yet  only  starvation  wages  as  com- 
pared with  the  high  cost  of  living — which  is  not 
altogether  one  of  after  the  war  conditions,  but 
rather  mainly  due  to  the  concentration  of  people 
in  the  cities  where  they  become  consumers  rather 
than  producers  of  the  world's  food  supply. 

Someone  has  advocated,  by  way  of  reform,  that 
the  unearned  increment  of  the  land  be  divided 
pro-ratio  among  the  population,  but  that  would 
not  do  away  with  the  cities  and  all  the  vices 
they  engender,  which  far  over-balance  the  good. 
What  mankind — men,  women  and  children — need 
is  contact  with  the  soil  and  the  open  air  and  sun- 
light in  order  that  they  may  develop  physically, 
mentally,  morally  and  spiritually. 

In  1908,  when  the  writer  was  the  editor  of  a 
country  newspaper  in  Iowa,  and  when  the  rail- 
roads somehow  were  led  to  believe  that  the  coun- 
try editor  had  a  little  influence  over  votes  in  the 
community  in  which  he  or  she  lived — we  were 
given  mileage  books  on  which  we  might  travel  in 
state,  or  at  least  first  class.  Well,  ye  editor  used 
her  mileage  book  in  a  trip  to  Chicago — the  very 
first  time  we  had  ever  been  in  a  city  of  more 
than  5000  population.  The  friend  whom  we  vis- 
ited had  been  a  probation  officer  of  the  Juvenile 
Court  for  many  years,  and  in  her  company  we  at- 

—  72  — 


tended  an  afternoon  session  of  the  court.  When 
I  returned  I  wrote  the  following  editorial  for  my 
paper: 

"In  company  with  a  friend  of  ours,  we  attended 
a  session  of  the  Juvenile  Court  where  so  much 
total  depravity  was  aired  that  we  grew  sick  at 
heart,  and  since  our  return  we  have  been  racking 
our  brains  to  findw  some  solution  to  the  great  prob- 
lem which  is  so  overwhelmingly  real  to  all  char- 
itable people  of  the  city.  What  a  pity  that  the 
wealth  and  population  of  the  city  may  not  be 
distributed  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of 
this  great  country  of  ours." 

That  gained  for  "ye  editor"  the  appelation  of 
"Socialist"  from  the  pen  of  a  brother  editor,  and 
shortly  afterward  we  received  a  letter  from  the 
chairman  of  the  State  Central  Committee  inviting 
us  to  become  a  member  of  the  party.  But  the 
cares  and  woes  of  a  country  newspaper  editor  and 
publisher's  life  were  so  great,  especially  in  those 
days  when  the  journeyman  typesetter  would  take 
a  vacation  in  the  middle  of  the  week,  that  we  had 
no  time  to  study  the  platform  of  the  Socialist 
party.  But  I  think  that  I  was  started  in  the  right 
direction  even  then,  insofar  as  the  land  question 
and  the  abolishment  of  vice  and  poverty  is 
concerned. 

Count  Leo  Tolstoi  put  into  practice  in  his  own 
life  his  theory  of  service  and  moral  responsibility, 
as  he  worked  with  his  people  in  the  fields  and 
lived  on  the  simplest  and  humblest  fare.  Shortly 
before  his  death  he  struck  the  keynote  of  all  mortal 
philosophy  'in  the  following  words  : 

"Standing  on  the  threshold  of  the  grave,  I  be- 
seech you  to  do  this  for  your  children.  Let  them 
do  all  they  can  for  themselves :  carry  out  their 
own  slops,  fill  their  own  jugs,  wash  up,  arrange 
their  own  rooms,  clean  their  boots  and  clothes, 
lay  the  table,  etc.  Believe  me,  that  unimportant 
as  these  things  may  seem,  they  are  a  hundred  times 
more  important  for  your  children's  happiness  than 
a  knowledge  of  French  or  of  history.  It  is  true 
that  here  the  chief  difficulty  crops  up :  children 
do  willingly  what  their  parents  do,  and  therefore, 
I  beg  of  you,  do  these  things.  Believe  me,  that 
without  that  condition  there  is  no  possibility  of 
a  moral  education,  a  Christian  education,  or  a 
consciousness  of  the  fact  that  all  men  are — not 
divided  into  two  classes,  masters  and  slaves — but 
brothers  and  equals." 

Let  us  repeat: 

"Not  masters  and  slaves,  but  brothers  and 
equals."  Yes,  that  is  the  ultimate  good,  and  now 
that  I  have  presented  to  you  an  ideal,  a  dream, 
let  us  see  what  chance  that  ideal  has  for  a  realiza- 
tion in  the  world  of  today,  for  however  much  we 
may  believe  that  the  world  is  making  rapid  strides 


toward  the  realization  of  the  ideals  of  universal 
brotherhood,  one  must  confess  that  certain  deplor- 
able conditions  still  exist,  and  we  fail  in  our  duty 
as  enlightened  Christian  citizens  if  we  are  not 
doing  all  in  our  power  to  bring  about  a  realiza- 
tion of  the  highest  ideals  of  human  welfare. 

When  Germany  imposed  the  menacing  U-Boat 
blockade  on  the  British  Isles,  England  was  faced 
either  with  famine  or  the  necessity  of  producing 
food  enough  from  its  confines  sufficient  to  feed 
its  40,000,000  inhabitants.  She  immediately  set 
about  to  achieve  this  task.  Women  and  children 
took  up  the  shovel  and  the  hoe,  while  the  men 
were  bearing  arms,  and  300,000  new  acres  were 
brought  into  cultivation  almost  over  night,  and 
the  man  who  saved  his  country  from  starvation 
through  the  far-sighted  sense  of  his  food  saving 
and  food  producing  program  was  Lord  Lee,  direct- 
or-general of  agriculture,  and  since  the  war  he  has 
been  working  for  a  change  in  the  British  system 
which  will  relieve  the  old  handicap  of  vested  in- 
terests and  forever  provide  against  a  peril  of  food 
shortage  due  to  isolation  from  the  outside  world. 
The  methods  by  which  he  proposes  to  bring  about 
reform  are  as  follows : 

"Stimulate  public  interest  in  land  in  England  ; 
consider  each  acre  part  of  the  public  domain ; 
adopt  a  sane  policy  of  rural  regeneration ;  be  in- 
dependent of  imports  in  prime  necessities." 

"Each  acre  (and  this  must  be  recognized  and 
considered  in  every  plan  of  management),  is  an 
integral  part  of  the  public  domain,  no  matter  who 
may  'own'  it.  Its  value  can  either  be  increased  01 
diminished  by  the  manner  of  its  management;  it 
it  is  increased,  the  State  gains  ;  if  it  is  decreased, 
the  State  must  lose.  Individuals  must  not  be 
permitted  to  proceed  in  such  a  way  as  will  mean 
public  loss." 

"Urge  soldiers  to  go  back  to  the  land." 

This  admonition  and  advice  to  soldiers  to  "Go 
back  to  the  land"  has  been  the  advice  of  our 
United  States  Government,  but  nothing  better  for 
the  soldier  than  the  old  homestead  law  has  been 
devised  in  the  way  of  settlement  of  the  land. 
As  all  the  really  productive  land  is  held  in  private 
ownership — or  by  corporations  and  vested  inter- 
ests,* or  set  apart  in  Government  reserves  as  a 
sporting  ground  for  the  rich — the  poor  returned 
soldier  boy  hasn't  much  of  a  chance. 

The  laborer  should  be  a  ward  of  the  nation 
insofar  that  he  may  have  hours  of  recreation  and 
rest  and  be  free  from  the  harassing  fear  of  actual 
want  in  order  that  he,  too,  may  develop  all  the 
latent  intellectual  and  artistic  longings  of  his  soul. 
Everyone  longs  to  create,  to  give  expression  to 
the  dreams  of  beauty  which  haunt  the  soul,  but 
what  chance  has  the  laborer  for  such  expression 

—  74  — 


in  the  world  today  when  after  eight  or  nine  hours 
of  toil  he  returns  to  his  humble  home  with  aching 
muscles  and  dulled  brain — to  hear  the  old  story 
of  increasing  prices  of  all  the  actual  and  often 
the  barest  necessities  of  life  *?  No  wonder  the  fear 
of  poverty  and  dependency  for  himself  and  his 
loved  ones  crushes  out  all  thought  of  mental  and 
spiritual  needs,  making  him  merely  a  creature  of 
today  without  hope  of  a  tomorrow,  where  even 
in  the  manufacture  of  the  simplest  articles  of 
commerce  he  is  compelled  to  do  piece  work  and 
is  not  enabled  to  use  any  inventive  genius  or 
originality  he  may  possess.  Herbert  Spencer  tersely 
and  happily  summed  up  the  situation :  "One  man 
will  not  be  suffered  to  enjoy,  without  working,  that 
which  another  produces  without  enjoying." 

Coming  home  on  the  street  car  from  down-town 
in  Los  Angeles,  a  few  days  ago,  I  made  room 
beside  me  for  an  elderly  woman  who  seemed  ill — 
motioning  her  to  the  seat  at  my  side  with  a  word 
of  kindness  and  a  smile  of  understanding — and 
on  the  way  out  to  Hollywood,  where  she  was  go- 
ing to  do  some  sewing,  she  told  me  her  story  of 
a  life  time  given  to  serving  others  without  any 
chance  to  save  out  of  her  earnings  to  provide  for 
old  age ;  that  she  had  come  to  Los  Angeles  to 
escape  the  severe  winters  of  the  east,  but  she  re- 
gretted her  coming  as  there  were  no  old  ladies' 
homes  here,  and  now  she  must  work  until  she 
dropped  into  her  grave.  O!  the  shame  of  a  civ- 
ilization which  does  not  take  care  of  the  aged! 

Truly,  there  is  a  gospel  of  selfishness  sooth- 
ing as  soft  flutes  to  those  who,  having  fared 
-  well  themselves,  think  that  everybody  ought 
to  be  satisfied.  Such  an  attitude  of  mind  Carlyle 
defined  as  "Wretched,  unsympathetic,  scraggy 
egoism."  A  too  eager  acceptance  of  another  soul's 
bad  Karma  is  not  conducive  to  our  own  highest 
development ;  things  may  not  be  glossed  over — 
they  must  be  boldly  and  sympathetically  faced 
and  remedied,  if  possible,  else  that  persons  Karma 
may  in  another  lifetime,  or  even  in  this  changing 
world,  become  our  own. 


'A  traveler  through  a  dusty  road, 

Strewed  acorns  on  the  J.ea ; 
And  one  took  root  and  sprouted  up, 

And  grew  into  a  tree. 
Love  sought  its  shade  at  evening  time, 

To  breathe  its  early  vows : 
And  age  was  pleased  at  heat  of  noon, 

To  bask  beneath  its  boughs; 
The  doormouse  loved  its  dangling  twigs, 

The  birds  sweet  music  bore; 
It  stood  a  glory  in  its  ^  place, 

A  blessing  evermore." 

—  75  — 


PURSUIT  OF  THE  IDEAL 

The  Soul  to  the  Ideal  : 

0  thou  who  art  enthroned  afar, 
Insatiate,  calm,  divine, 

Have  mercy,  speak  to  me,  and  warm 
This  fainting  heart  of  mine. 

Long,  long  a  pilgrim,  at  thy  shrine 

I  knelt  and  homage  paid ; 
All  that  I  am  I  owe  to  thee, 

True  sacrifice  was  made. 

1  have  now  outgrown  the  bonds 
Of  form  and  earthly  place, 

I  would  fly  to  realms  of  Light 
And  see  thee  face  to  face  *? 

0  thou  who  art  my  life,  my  all, 
My  spirit  cries  to  thee, 

Break  thou  my  limitations 
And  set  thy  captive  free. 

The  Ideal  to  the  Soul  : 

Come  thou  pale  suppliant  and  view 

The  form  you  thought  Divine ; 
Come,  dwell  with  one  whose  life  is  full 

Of  frailties  as  thine. 

1  was  but  a  Light  that  shone 
To  lead  thee  to  thy  God, 

As  thou  wilt  be  a  light  to  those 
Who  choose  the  path  you  trod ; 

Come,  I  will  show  thee  mine  ideal, 

For  thou  art  now  as  me, 
And  we  will  fare  together 

Through  all  eternity. 

— Published  in  The  Hesperian,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 
in   1900.  

BECAUSE  YOU  LOVE  ME 

To  Jean 

Because  you  love  me 
Life  is  fair, 

I  dine  each  day  on  princely  fare, 
And  all  the  dreary  round  of  care 
Has  lighter  grown, 

Because  you  love  me. 

Because  you  love  me 
Thought  has  wings; 

Each  moment  some  sweet  message  brings, 
And  all  my  soul  in  rapture  sings, 

Because  you  love  me. 

Because  you  love  me 
Faith  is  given, 

And  charity  and  hope  of  heaven, 
And  grace  to  make  this  life  of  mine 
Worthy  of  such  love  as  thine, 

Because  you  love  me. 
'—76  — 


SAPPHO 

There  came  a  dark  browed  spirit  on  whose  head 
laurel  and  withering  roses  loosely  hung.  She 
held  a  harp,  amongst  whose  chords  her  hand 
wandered  for  music — and  it  came.  She  sang — a 
song  dispairing,  and  the  whispering  winds  seemod 
envious  of  her  melody,  and  streamed  admist  the 
wires  to  rival  her,  in  vain.  Short  wa?  the  strain, 
but  sweet.  Methought  it  spoke  of  broken  hearts 
and  still  and  moonlight  seas,  of  love  and  loneli- 
ness, and  fancy  gone,  and  hopes  decayed  forever ; 
and  my  ear  caught  well  remembered  names,  "Leu- 
cadia's  rock"  at  times,  and  "faithless  Phaon." 
Then  her  form  passed  not,  but  seemed  to  melt  in 
air  away.  This  was  the  Lesbian  Sappho." 

Sappho,  the  celebrated  poetess  of  antiquity,  was 
a  native  of  Lesbos,  one  of  the  islands  of  the 
Aegean  sea.  Lesbos  seems  to  have  been  a  center 
of  intelligence  and  refinement,  and  there  is  a  tra- 
dition that  Orpheus  was  buried  there.  The  Poets 
Arion  and  Terpander — the  founders  of  Greek 
music — were  natives  of  this  island. 

She  was  married  early  in  life,  but  soon  was 
widowed,  and  afterward  conceived  a  violent  pas- 
sion for  a  man  of  Lesbos  named  Phaon,  who 
seemed  at  first  to  return  her  love  but  afterward 
to  have  grown  weary  of  her,  and  to  have  fled  to 
Sicily  to  escape  her  reproaches,  and  although  sad- 
ness was  supposed  to  offend  Apollo,  and  the 
muses,  and  Sappho  had  never  been  a  foe  to  mirth 
and  joyousness,  after  she  had  been  deserted  by 
Phaon  she  determined  to  put  an  end  to  her  exist- 
ence and  took  the  "Leucadian  or  Lover's  Leap." 

This  lover's  leap  was  from  a  lofty  promontory 
or  cliff  from  which  those  unhappy  persons,  who 
sought  release  from  unrequited  love,  after  having 
made  their  vows  in  a  temple  of  Apollo,  cast  them- 
selves into  the  sea. 

It  was  thought  that  this  sometimes  fatal  experi- 
ment was  a  "sure  cure,"  and  the  one  "who  had 
been  loved  in  vain,"  in  turn  must  "love  in  vain," 
for  according  to  a  passage  from  Ovid — 

"Ducalion  once  with   hopeless   fury  burned ; 

In  vain  he  loved ;  relentless  Pyrrha  scorned ; 

But  when  from  hence  he  plunged  into  the  main, 

Ducalion  scorned  and  Pyrrha  loved  in  vain." 

And  Anacaron  says : 

"From    dread    Leucate's    frowning    steep, 
I'll  plunge   into   the  whitening  deep, 
And  there  lie  cold,  to   death   resigned, 
For  love  intoxicates  my  mind." 

One  love-lorn  Lacedaemonian,  when  about  ttv 
take  the  leap,  is  said  to  have  exclaimed:  "I  did 
not  suppose  that  my  vow  to  Apollo  would  re- 
quire another,  still  more  stringent." 

—  77  — 


The  origin  of  this  custom  was  as  follows: 

Venus,  after  the  death  of  Adonis,  having  dili- 
gently sought  for  his  remains,  at  last  found  them 
in  the  temple  of  Opollo.  Having  made  known 
her  sufferings,  she  was  taken  to  the  Leucadian 
Rock  and  bidden  to  cast  herself  from  it  as  a  re- 
lief for  her  malady,  and  the  reason  the  rock  held 
such  magic  for  the  lovers  was  because  Jupiter  fre- 
quented this  rock  while  dreaming  of  Juno,  and 
hence  the  Leucadian  Rock  figures  more  than  a 
little  in  the  affairs  d'amour  of  Grecian  history. 

Sappho  seems  not  to  have  been  exempt  from 
the  weakness  of  her  sex,  and  Phaon,  her  lover, 
was  a  boatman  of  Mitylene.  who,  as  a  reward  for 
having  conveyed  Venus,  disguised  as  an  aged 
woman,  from  the  island  to  the  continent,  re- 
ceived as  his  reward  from  her  an  alabaster  box  of 
ointment,  the  use  of  which  imparted  to  him  a 
beauty  so  remarkakble  that  he  was  an  object  of 
admiration  and  love. 

Sappho  says  to   him  in   verse  : 

"By  charms  like  thine,  which  all  my  soul  have 
won, 

Who  might  not — ah,  who  would  not  be  un- 
done !" 

All  of  Sappho's  poetry  was  sung  or  intoned  to 
the  lyre,  in  public.  It  is  said  that  the  Lesbian 
maidens  attended  her  performances  in  crowds  and 
it  is  said  that  as  a  singer  and  lyrist  she  has  never 
been  equalled. 

Plato  and  Ansonius  speak  of  her  as  the  "tenth 
muse."  Some  Greek  writers  speak  of  her  as  "the 
divine,"  "the  beautiful,"  "the  flower  of  the 
graces,"  "the  chief  muse,"  "the  glory  of  Lesbos," 
"a  prodigy,"  etc.,  and  she  is  spoken  of  as  a  sybil. 
It  is  said  that  she  excelled  all  other  poetesses  as 
Homer  excelled  all  other  poets.  And  Solon,  hav- 
ing heard  some  of  her  verses  read,  said  he  would 
not  willingly  die  until  he  had  fixed  them  in  his 
memory. 

A   Greek   epigram   reads : 

"To   Juno's    shrine,    O    Lesbian    maids   proceed; 

There  join  the  dance;  the  choir  let  Sappho  lead, 

Striking  a   golden   lyre.     Each   listening   ear 

Shall   seem  enrapt,  the  Muse   herself   to   hear." 

The  following  lines  are  a  translation  of  the 
Hymn  to  Venus,  one  of  Sappho's  amatory  poems. 
Ella  Wheeler  Wilcox  as  a  poetess  of  passion, 
rather  pales  in  the  glow  of  her  sister  Sappho's 
muse. 

"Oh,   Venus,  beauty   of   the   skies, 
To  whom  a   thousand   temples   rise, 
Gaily   false   in   gentle   smiles, 
Full    of    love-perplexing    wiles : 
Oh,   goddess!    from   my    heart    remove 
The  wasting  cares  and  pains  of  love; 

—  78  — 


If  ever  thou  hast  kindly  heard 
A  song  in  soft  distress  preferr'd, 
Propitious    to    my    tuneful    vow, 
Oh,  gentle   goddess !    hear  one   now ; 
Descend,   thou    bright,   immortal    guest ; 
In  all   thy  radiant  charms  confest. 

Thou  once  didst  leave  almighty  Jove, 
And   all   the  golden   roofs   above, 
The   car  thy   wanton   sparrows  drew, 
Hovering    in    air   they    lightly    rlew ; 
As  to  my  bower  they  wing'd  their  way, 
I   saw   their  quivering   pinions   play. 

The   birds   dismist    (while   you   remain,) 
Bore  back   their  empty  car  again ; 
Then  you,  with  looks  divinely  mild, 
In   every   heavenly   feature   smil'd, 
And  ask'd  what  new  complaints  I  made, 
And  why  I  call'd  you  to  my  aid  ? 

What  phrenxy  in  my  bosom  raged, 
And  by  what  cure  to  be  assuaged  'I 
What    gentle    youth    I    would    allure, 
Whom  in   my  artful   toils   secure  ? 
Who    does    thy    tender   heart    subdue, 
Tell  me,  my  Sappho,  tell  me   who  *? 

Though    now    he    shuns    thy    longing   arms, 

He   soon  shall  court  thy  slighted  charms  ; 

Though    now   thy   ofF rings   he   despise, 

He   soon   to   thee   shall  sacrifice ; 

Though   now   he   freeze,   he   soon    shall    buru. 

And  be  thy  victim  in  his  turn. 

Celestial    visitant,   once    more 
Thy  needful  presence- 1  implore  ! 
In  pity  come  and  ease  my  grief, 
Bring  my  distemper'd   soul   relief ; 
Favour   thy   suppliant's   fires, 
And  give  me  all  my  heart  desires." 

One  wonders  in  what  form  the  soul  of  Sappho 
next  reincarnated.  If  she  is  living  in  the  world  of 
today  the  fires  of  her  love  have  probably  been 
transmuted  into  the  pure  gold  of  the  spirit.  The 
preparatory  discipline  of  a  great  soul  is  in  the 
school  of  emotion  and  Sappho  certainly  excelled 
in  that. 


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"COME  UNTO  ME" 

I  come  to  Thee  in  the  dawning 

When  the   first  lights  of  morning   break, 
I  corrte  to  thee  in  the  silence 

'Ere  the  birds  from  their  sleep  awake. 

I  come  to  Thee  in  the  splendour 
Of  the  sunshine  that  bathes  the  hills ; 

I  come  to  Thee  in  the  music 

Of  Thy  woods  and  temples  and  rills. 

I  come  to  Thee  in  the  noonday 

When  my  spirit  is  burdened  with  care 

I  come  to  Thee  in  life's  tempest 
And  kneel  before  Thee  in  prayer. 

I  come  to  Thee  in  the  evening, 
So  weary  and  longing  for  rest ; 

I  pillow  my  head  on  thy  bosom 
And  feel  Thou  dost  love  me  best. 


KIND  ACTIONS  REPAID 

The  Mohammedans  have  a  fanciful  idea  that 
the  true  believer,  in  his  passage  to  Paradise,  is 
under  the  necessity  of  passing  barefooted  over  a 
bridge  composed  of  red-hot  iron.  But  on  this  occa- 
sion all  the  pieces  of  paper  which  the  Moslem  has 
preserved  during  his  life,  lest  some  holy  thing  be- 
ing written  upon  them  might  be  profaned,  arrange 
themselves  between  his  feet  and  the  burning  metal, 
and  so  save  him  from  injury.  In  the  same  man- 
ner, the  effects  of  kind  and  benevolent  actions  are 
sometimes  found,  even  in  this  world,  to  assuage 
the  pangs  of  subsequent  afflictions. — Scot. 


"What  matters  it  if  you  and  I  look  like  failures : 
what  matters  it  if  our  petty  plans  crumble  to  pieces 
in  our.  hands ;  'what  matters  it  if  our  schemes  of  a 
moment  are  found  to  be  useless  and  thrown  aside  9 

"The  life  we  have  thrown  into  them,  the  devo- 
tion with  which  we  planned  them,  the  strength 
with  which  we  strove  to  carry  them  out,  the  sacri- 
fice with  which  we  offered  them  to  the  success  of 
the  mighty  whole,  that  enrolled  us  as  sacrificial 
workers  with  Diety,  and  no  glory  is  greater  than 
the  glory  of  personal  failure  which  ensures  the 
universal  success."  ANNIE  BESANT, 

The  Theosophist,  March,  1909. 


GLAD   TIDINGS   OF  THE   DAWN 

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their  realisation.     Edited   by   the  author  cf 

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—  80  — 


THE  SOUL  OF  HISTORY 

History  is  said  to  be  the  record  of  what  men 
have  done  and  suffered  and  achieved.  It  takes 
account  of  arts,  languages,  literature,  politics  and 
religions  of  all  the  institutions  and  all  the  spirit- 
ual products  which  the  mind  of  man  has  called 
into  being.  In  fact,  it  is  said  that  "History  shows 
what  things  are"  But  does  it  not  rather  sho\v 
what  things  are  not?  Only  in  the  Light  ot 
Philosophy  may  we  find  any  solution  of  causes 
and  reasons  and  powers  and  laws.  It  has  been 
said  that  all  systems  of  philosophy  are  inane ;  that 
it  has  no  fruits — merely  leading  from-  one  wilder- 
ness of  opinion  into  another,  and  that  nothing 
has  been  established  by  the  long  series  of  philoso- 
phers except  that  nothing  can  be  known. 

This  is  because  the  average  student  of  philoso- 
phy has  but  little  discrimination  and  is  soon  lost 
in  the  different  schools  of  thought.  In  studying 
philosophy  as  in  reading  history  one  must  com- 
bine and  deduce  and  harmonize,  and  the  faculties 
of  combination  and  deduction  and  discrimination 
are  faculties  which  only  the  mind  of  a  Shakespeare 
may  compass ;  but  if  philosophy  did  not  more  for 
us  than  to  remind  us  of  the  mystery  of  this  mys- 
terious world  and  to  open  windows  of  the  mind  to 
a  feeble  conception  of  other  worlds,  and  the  rec- 
ognition of  spirit  as  a  supreme  reality,  it  would 
have  fulfilled  an  inestimable  service  to  the  world. 

The  word  Philosophy  is  derived  from  two  Greek 
words  meaning  love  of  wisdom ;  and  that  is  the 
mission  of  philosophy — to  instill  within  the  mind 
and  heart  of  man  a  love  of  Wisdom,  of  Truth. 

History  is  said  to  be  but  a  product  of  Nature, 
but  Nature  in  its  manifestation  is  God.  The  glo- 
ries of  vast  empires,  the  splendor  of  cities  long 
buried  in  silence  and  drifting  sands — Atlantis. 
Athens,  Rome,  Jerusalem,  poets,  priests,  sages, 
soldiers,  art,  song,  science,  good  and  evil,  joy  and 
sorrow,  genius,  energy,  courage,  constancy  and 
sacrifice,  are  a  part  of  the  soul  of  each  individual, 
and  national  life  as  human  life,  is  a  continuous 
development.  As  the  individual  has  no  separate 
historical  existence,  so  the  national  life  lias  no 
separate  existence,  and  becomes  merged  in  the 
Spirit  of  Humanity.  He  is  but  a  poor  student  of 
history  who  has  not  acquired  the  faculty  of  bring- 
ing to  all  subjects  and  events  of  history  the 
Light  of  Philosophy ;  for  History  in  its  outward 
aspect  is  but  a  revelation  of  evil  and  misery  and 
unrealized  ambition.  The  philosopher  looks  be- 
yond the  evil  to.  its  purpose  and  its  use  in  the 
universe,  and  pervading  all  is  the  spirit  of  Truth 
and  Justice,  and  harmony  and  unity. 

Pascal,  the  acute  philosopher,  said:  "The  suc- 
cession of  men  in  all  ages  may  be  regarded  as  one 

—  81  — 


man  who  lives  always  and  learns  always."  The 
life  of  a  single  individual  is  a  partial  development 
of  all  humanity.  Links  do  not  make  a  chain  unless 
they  are  united,  and  all  the  colors  of  the  sunbeam 
must  be  combined  to  form  one  ray  of  light.  His- 
tory draws  together  and  combines  individuals  and 
communities,  and  nations,,  and  races  and  history 
in  its  development  is  God.  Origion  was  right  when 
he  said :  "The  soul  of  the  world  is  nothing  other 
than  the  power  and  the  wisdom  of  God  which  is 
able  to  combine  these  great  mortal  differences 
into  one  living  whole,  and  which  pervades  and 
animates  the  universe,  subjecting  all  dissonances 
to  a  higher  law  of  harmony."  Thus  God  may 
not  be  excluded  from  history.  He  is  not  an  idle 
spectator  of  its  processes,  but  He  is  the  soul,  the 
essence,  the  vitality  of  all  that  exists,  and  the 
first  requisite  of  the  historian  is  a  profoundly 
philosophical  spirit. 

The  unity  of  history  is  something  which  com- 
prises all  the  facts  and  forces  which  produce  the 
ages.  There  is  but  one  universe  because  there  is 
but  one  Unifying  Will.  Every  one  of  the  num- 
berless suns  and  stars  and  systems,  all  laws  of 
intelligence  and  motion  and  memory  find  their 
explanation  in  the  unity  of  the  Divine  Plan. 

In  the  Rig  Veda,  Vach,  the  goddess  of  speech, 
says : 

"I  pervade  Heaven  and  Earth.  I  bear  the  father 
on  the  summit  of  the  world ;  my  origin  is  in  the 
water,  in  the  sea ;  from  thence  I  go  forth  among 
all  beings,  and  touch  the  heavens  by  my  height. 
I  myself  breathe  forth  like  the  wind,  embracing 
all  things,  above  the  heavens,  beyond  the  earth : 
such  am  I  in  greatness." 


It  is  said  of  Diogenes,  that  when  his  friends 
asked  him,  toward  the  close  of  his  life,  how  he 
would  be  buried,  he  replied  that  he  "did  not  desire 
them  to  bury  him  at  all,  but  to  throw  him  into 
the  field."  That,  they  told  him,  was  the  way  to 
be  devoured  by  the  birds  and  beasts.  "No,"  says 
he,  "you  must  put  a  cudgel  by  my  side."  "A 
cudgel !  How  should  you  make  use  of  it,  when 
you  have  neither  sense  nor  feeling V"  " 'Tis  there," 
said  he,  "that  I  wanted  you.  What  need  I  care 
what  is  done  with  me,  when  I  have  neither  sense 
nor  feeling  ?" 


If  a  comrade  be  faithless,  let  us  be  faithful  to 
him;  if  an  enemy  injure,  let  us  forgive  him;  if  a 
friend  betray,  let  us  stand  by  him.  Thus  shall  the 
hidden  God  in  us  shine  forth. 

ANNIE  BESANT. 


—  82  — 


THE  DAWN 

"The  dawn,  which  is  to  us  merely  a  beautiful 
sight,  was  to  the  early  gazer  and  thinker  the  prob- 
lem of  all  problems.  It  was  the  unknown  land 
from  whence  rose  every  day  those  bright  emblems 
of  a  divine  power  which  left  in  the  mind  of  man 
the  first  impressions  and  intimations  of  another 
world,  of  power  above,  of  order  and  wisdom. 
What  we  simply  call  the  sun-rise,  brought  before 
their  eyes  every  day  the  riddle  of  all  riddles,  the 
riddle  of  existence.  The  days  of  their  lives  sprang 
from  that  dark  abyss  which  every  morning  seemed 
instinct  with  life  and  light.  Their  youth,  their 
manhood,  their  old  age,  all  were  to  the  Vedic 
bards  the  gift  of  that  heavenly  mother  who 
appeared  bright,  young,  unchanged,  immortal 
every  morning,  while  everything  else  seemed  to 
grow  old,  to  change  and  droop,  and  at  last  to  set, 
never  to  return.  It  was  there,  in  that  bright 
chamber,  that,  as  their  poets  said  mornings  and 
days,  were  spun.  A  new  life  flashed  up  every 
morning  before  their  eyes,  and  the  fresh  breezes 
of  the  dawn  reached  them  like  greetings  wafted 
across  the  golden  threshold  of  the  sky  from  the 
distant  lands  beyond  the  mountains,  beyond  the 
clouds,  beyond  'the  immortal  sea  which  brought 
us  hither'.  The  dawn  seemed  to  them  to  open 
golden  gates  for  the  sun  to  pass  in  triumph,  and 
while  those  gates  were  open,  their  eyes  and  their 
minds  strove  in  their  childish  way  to  pierce  beyond 
the  limits  of  this  finite  world.  That  silent  aspect 
awakened  in  the  human  mind  the  conception  of 
the  Infinite,  the  Immortal,  the  Divine."  But  as 
yet  there  was  no  name  for  this  Divine  One.  We 
may  imagine  they  reasoned  upon  the  subject 
somewhat  as  follows :  "Our  inner  being  tells  us 
there  is  a  God.  We  see  him  each  morning,  bat- 
tling with  darkness,  and  driving  away  its  black 
demons  to  their  dens,  opening  the  portals  of  the 
morning,  and  letting  in  the  sun  shining  in  his 
strength ;  our  very  existence  depends  upon  him ; 
our  hearts  go  out  toward  him.  But  oh  that  we 
knew  his  name  that  we  might  speak  to  him ! 
All  his  acts  bring  joy  to  our  hearts ;  he  sheds  glad- 
ness over  the  whole  creation ;  he  is  the  eternal 
enemy  of  night  and  darkness  ;  he  is  the  friend  of 
the  bright  sun  of  day;  he  always  comes  with  the 
dawn;  let  that  be  his  name! — Let  us  call  him 
"Dyans",  the  Dawn,  the  Bright  God,  the  Shining 
One,  the  Resplendent  Being,  the  God  of  Light." 


There  is  a  story  of  a  Scotch  clergyman,  who, 
after  reading  the  passage  in  the  Psalms  where 
David  says,  "And  I  said  in  my  haste  all  men  are 
liars,"  being  struck  with  the  applicability  of  the 
passage  to  his  own  cure  of  souls,  broke  off,  and 
remarked,  "Dauvid,  Dauvid,  an'  ye'd  lived^  in  this 
parish  ye  micht  ha'  said  it  at  your  leisure!" 


TWO  MASTERPIECES 

There  were  two  poems  written,  one  in  the  orig- 
inal Greek,  and  the  other  in  our  own  loved  Eng- 
lish which  for  sublimity  of  expression  transcend 
all  others. 

One  is  Cleanthe's  Hymn  to  Jupiter,  quoted  by 
St.  Paul  in  his  address  to  the  Athenians,  Acts 
xvii  :28 :  and  the  other  is  Coleridge's  Hymn  Before 
Sunrise  in  the  Vale  of  Chamouni.  May  I  not  give 
them  both  to  those  of  my  readers  to  whom  their 
beauty  is  as  yet  unknown  ? 

HYMN   BEFORE  SUNRISE  IN   THE  VALE 
OF  CHAMOUNI 

Hast  thou  a  charm  to  stay  the  Morning-star 
In  his  steep  course  ?    So  long  he  seems  to  pause 
On  thy  bald,  awful  head,  O  sovran  Blanc! 
The  Arve  and  Arveiron  at  thy  base 
Rave  ceaselessly;  but  thou,  most  awful  form, 
Riseth  from  forth  silent  sea  of  pines, 
How  silently!    Around  thee,  and  above. 
Deep  is  the  air  and  dark,  substantial,  black, 
An  ebon  mass :  methinks  thou  piercest  it 
As  with  a  wedge!     But  when  I  look  again, 
It  is  thine  own  calm  home,  thy  crystal  shrine, 
Thy  habitation  from  eternity! — 

0  dread  and  silent  Mount !    I  gazed  upon  thee, 
Till  thou,  still  present  to  the  bodily  sense, 

Didst  vanish  from  my  thought :  entranced  in  prayer 

1  worshipp'd  the  Invisible  alone. 

\ 

Yet,  like  some  sweet  beguiling  melody — 
So  sweet  we  know  not  we  are  listening  to  it — 
Thou,   the    meanwhile,   wast    blending    with     my 

thought, 

Yea,  with  my  life  and  life's  own  secret  joy: 
Till  the  dilating  soul, — enrapt,  transfused, 
Into  the  mighty  vision  passing — there, 
As  in  her  natural  form,  swelled  vast  to  Heaven ! 

Awake,  my  soul !  not  only  passive  praise 
Thou  owest — not  alone  these  swelling  tears, 
Mute  thanks,  and  secret  ecstasy !    Awake, 
Voice  of  sweet  soing !    Awake,  my  heart,  awake ! 
Green  vales  and  icy  cliffs,  all  join  my  hymn! 

Thou  first  and  chief,  sole  Sovran  of  the  Vale ! 
O,  struggling  with  the  darkness  all  night, 
And  visited  all  night  by  troops  of  stars, 
Or  when  they  climb  the  sky,  or  when  they  sink : 
Companion  of  the  Morning-star  at  dawn, 
Thyself  earth's  rosy  star,  and  of  the  dawn 
Co-herald  ! — wake,  O  wake,  and  utter  praise  ! 
Who  sank  thy  sunless  pillars  deep  in  earth? 
Who  fill'd  thy  countenance  with  rosy  light? 
Who  made  thee  parent  of  perpetual  streams? 

—  84  — 


And  you,  ye  five  wild  torrents,  fiercely  glad ! 
Who  call'd  you  forth  from  night  and  utter  death, 
From  dark  and  icy  caverns  call'd  you  forth, 
Down  those  precipitous,  black,  jagged  rocks, 
For  ever  shattered  and  the  same  for  ever*? 
Who  gave  you  your  invulnerable  life, 
Your  strength,  your   speed,  your  fury,  and  your 

joy, 

Unceasing  thunder  and  eternal  foam4? 
And  who  commanded  (and  the  silence  came), — 
Here  let  the  billows  stiffen,  and  have  rest? 

Ye  ice-falls !  ye  that  from  the  mountain's  brow 
Adown  enormous  ravines  slope  amain — 
Torrents,  methinks,  that  heard  a  mighty  voice, 
And  stopp'd  at  once  amid  their  maddest  plunge ! 
Motionless  torrents  !    silent  cataracts  ! 
Who  made  you  glorious  as  the  gates  of  Heaven, 
Beneath  the  keen  full  moon  ?     Who  bade  the  sun 
Clothe    you     with     rainbows?    Who,   with   living 

flowers 

Of  loveliest  blue,  spread  garlands  at  your  feet? — 
God !  let  the  torrents,  like  a  shout  of  nations, 
Answer!  and  let  the  ice-plains  echo,  God! 
God !     sing,   ye     meadow-streams     with     gladsome 

voice ! 
Ye     pine-groves,    with     your     soft     and     soul-like 

sounds ! 

And  they,  too,  have  a  voice,  you  piles  of  snow, 
And  in  their  perilous  fall  shall  thunder,  God ! 

Ye  livery  flowers,  that  skirt  th'  eternal  frost ! 
Ye  wild  goats,  sporting  'round  the  eagle's  nest ! 
Ye  eagles,  playmates  of  the  mountain-storm ! 
Ye  lightnings,  the  dread  arrows  of  the  clouds ! 
Ye  signs  and  wonders  of  the  element! 
Utter  forth  God,  and  fill  the  hills  with  praise  b 

Once  more,  hoar  Mount!   with  thy  sky-pointing 

peaks, 

Oft  from  whose  feet  the  avalanche,  unheard, 
Shoots  downward,  glittering  thro'  the  pure  serene, 
Into  the  depth  of  clouds  that  veil  thy  breast — 
Thou  too  again,  stupendous  Mountain !  thou, 
That  as  I  rise  my  head,  awhile  bow'd  low 
In  adoration,  upward  from  thy  base, 
Slow  travelling  with  dim  eyes  suffused  with  tears, 
Solemnly  seemest,  like  a  vapoury  cloud, 
•To  rise  before  me. — Rise,  O  ever  rise! 
Rise,  like  a  cloud  of  incense  from  the  earth! 
Thou  kingly  spirit,  throned  among  the  bills ! 
Thou  dread  ambassador  from  earth  to  Heaven! 
Great  hierarch !  tell  thou  the  silent  sky, 
And  tell  the,  stars,  and  tell  yon  rising  sun. 
Earth,  with  her  thousand  voices,  praises  God! 

COLERIDGE. 

—  85  — 


CLEANTHE'S   HYMN   TO   JUPITER 

Hail,  mightiest  of  Immortals !  many  a  name 
Bespeaks,  whose  greatness,  evermore  the  same ! 
Ruler  of  Nature,  whose  dread  sovereignty, 
.  Upholdeth  all  things  by  a  fixed  decree. 
Thee  I  invoke,  great  king!  for,  frail  and  weak, 
Fitting  is  it  for  man  thy  praise  to  speak! 
For  they  who  breathe  the  air  and  tread  the  ground 
Are  all  his  offspring,  and,  compared  with  Thee, 
Are  all  his  fleeting  image  of  a  sound ; 
Therefore  my  office  and  my  joy  shall  be 
To  sing  thy  matchless  power  eternally! 
This  countless  train  of  worlds  their  course  fulfill, 
Encircling  earth,  obedient  to  thy  will ! 
Thy  steadfast  hand  the  thunderbolt  doth  fling, 
That  two-edged,  fiery,  ever-living  thing, 
With    which,    when     rent,     all     nature     breathless 

stands, 

Fearing  the  power  of  thy  resistless  hands ! 
The  mighty  plan  of  nature  thou  dost  guide, 
Pervading  all  things,  to  all  life  allied! 
Without  thee,God,  thy  presence  and  thy  care, 
Nor  in  the  -earth,  nor  in  the  empyreal  air, 
Nor  in  the  heaven  divine,  nor  tossing  sea 
Can  aught  be  done,  save  through  the  impiety 
Of  senseless  man.    Thy  penetrating  view 
Can  pierce  the  mazes  of  confusion  through, 
And  render  all  things  unperplexed  and  bright, 
All  discord  harmony,  all  darkness  light : 
So  that,  or  good  or  evil,  all  shall  tend 
To  the  fulfillment  of  one  common  end. 
But  this  eternal  purpose  men  deride, 
And  scorn  this  heavenly  wisdom,  in  their  pride. 
Oh,  wretched  men !  still  longing  to  possess, 
Forever  thirsting  after  happiness, 
They  neither  seek  to  learn,  nor  care  to  know 
This  Law  divine,  whose  guidance  can  bestow 
A  life  of  honor,  by  the  good  beloved, 
By  reason  guided  and  by  heaven  approved ; 
But  now,  alas,  rush  headlong  onward  still, 
Each  at  the  guidance  of  his  own  vain  will. 
Of  some  ambition  is  the  end  and  aim, 
A  thirst  insatiate  for  the  draught  of  fame ; 
Some  blindly  gain  and  hoard  and  worship  gold, 
While  others  yield  to  passion  uncontrolled. 
But  thou,  the  all-bestowing  God  of  love, 
The  thunder- ruling,  cloud-compelling  Jove ! 
Save  from  this  mournful  ignorance  this  vain, 
Distempered  mind,  and  give  us  to  attain 
That  wisdom  which  directs  thy  guiding  hand, 
In  the  wide  circuit  of  thy  just  command ; 
So  that,  thus  honored,  we  may  honor  thee, 
In  rendering  worthier  praise  eternally ; 
Since  not  to  man  on  earth,  nor  gods  in  heaven 
Can  any  higher,  nobler  task  be  given, 
Than  in  an  endless  song  to  celebrate 
This  LAW  eternal,  universal,  great! 

—  86  — 


GLEANINGS    FROM    "PROVERBIAL    PHIL^ 
OSOPHY"  , 

The  words  of  wisdom  are  chance  pearls  flung 
among  the  rocks  by  the  sullen  waters  of  oblivion  ; 
which  diligence  loves  to  gather  and  hang  around 
the  neck  of  Memory. 

*  *     * 

Consider,  whatever  thy  fate,  that  it  might  and 
ought  to  have  been  worse,  and  that  it  lieth  in  thy 
hand  to  gather  even  blessings  from  afflictions.  Be- 
think thee,  wherefore  were  they  sent*?  and  hath 
not  use  blunted  their  keenness  ? 

Need  hope  and  patience  and  courage  be  stra- 
gers  to  the  meanest  hovel  *? 

*  *     * 

Is  there  not  unmitigated  ill  in  the  sharpest  of 
the  world's  sorrows'? 

Cast  off  the  weakness  of  regret  and  gird  thee 
to  redeem  thy  loss. 

Thou  hast  gained  in  the  furnace  of  affliction, 
self  knowledge,  patience  and  humility.  And  these 
are  as  precious  ore  that  waiteth  the  skill  of  the 


I    say   not,   avenge    injuries  ;   for   the   ministry    of 

vengeance  is  not  thine  : 
But   wherefore   rebuke   not   a   liar  '?    wherefore   do 

dishonour  to  thyself? 
Wherefore    let    the    evil    triumph,    when    the   just 

and  the  right  are  on  thy  side  ? 
Such  Humility  is  abject,  it  lacketh  the  life  of  sen- 

sibility, 
And  that  resignation  is  but  mock,  when  the  bur- 

den is  not  felt; 
Suspect  thyself  and  thy  meekness  :  thou  art  mean 

and  indifferent  to  sin  ; 
And  the  heart  that  should  grieve  and  _f  orgive   is 

case-hardened  and  forgetteth. 
*     *     * 

Beware  of  the  angry  in  his  passion;  but  fear  not 

to  approach  him  afterward  ; 
For  if   thou   acknowledge   thine   errer,  he   himself 

will  be  sorry  for  his  wrath  ; 
Beware  of  the  hater  in  his  coolness  ;  for  he  medi- 

tateth  evil  against  thee  ; 
Commending  the  resources  of  his  mind  calmly  to 

work  thy  ruin. 
Deceit   and   treachery   skulk   with    hatred,   but    an 

honest  spirit  flieth  with  anger: 
The    one    lieth    secret,    as     a     serpent;    the    other 

chaseth,  as  a  leopard. 
Speedily  be  reconciled  in  love,  and  receive  the  re- 

turning offender, 
For    wittingly    tempering    with    anger,    thou    tam- 

perest  unconsciously  with  hatred. 

—  87  — 


Ridicule    is   a   weak   weapon,   when   levelled   at   a 

strong  mind  ; 
But    common    men    are    cowards,    and    dread    an 

empty  laugh, 
Fear  a  nettle,   and   touch   it   tenderly, — its   poison 

shall  burn  thee  to  the  shoulder; 
But  grasp  it  with  bold  hand, — is  it  not  a  bundle 

of  myrrh  ? 
Betray   mean    terror   of    ridicule,    thou    shalt    find 

fools  enough  to  mock  thee  j 
But    answer    thou    their    laughter    with    contempt, 

and  the  scoffers  will  lick  thy  feet. 

*  *     * 

Man,  thou  hast  a  social  spirit,  and  art  deeply  in- 
debted to  thy  kind ; 

Therefore  claim  not.  all  thy  rights :  but  yreld,  for 
thine  own  advantage. 

Society  is  a  chain  of  obligations,  and  its  links  must 
support  each  other; 

The  branch  cannot  but  wither,  that  is  cut  from 
the  parent  vine. 

Wouldst  thou  be  a  dweller  in  the  woods,  and  cast 
away  the  cords  that  bind  thee, 

Seeking,  in  thy  bitterness  of  pride,  to  be  exiled 
from  thy  fellows  *? 

Behold,  the  beasts  shall  hunt  thee,  weak,  naked, 
houseless  outcast, 

Disease  and  Death  shall  track  thee  out,  as  blood- 
hounds, in  the  wilderness  ; 

Better  to  be  vilest  of  the  vile,  in  the  hated  com- 
pany of  men, 

Than  to  live  a  solitary  wretch,  dreading  and  want- 
ing all  things ; 

Better  to  be  chained  to  thy  labour,  in  the  dusky 
thoroughfares  of  life, 

Than  to  reign  monarch  of  sloth,  in  losesome  sav- 
age freedom. 

*  *     * 

Better  is  the  wrong  with  sincerity,  rather  than  the 

right  with  falsehood: 
And  a  prudent  man  will  not  not  lay  siege  to  the 

stronghold  of  ignorant  bigotry. 
To  unsettle  a  weak  mind  were  an  easy  inglorious 

triumph, 
And    a    strong   cause    taketh    little    count     of     the 

worthless  suffrage  of  a  fool : 
Lightly  he  held  to  the  wrong,  loosely  will  he  cling 

to  right ; 
Weakness  is  the  essence  of  his  mind,  and  the  reed 

cannot  yield  an  acorn. 

:|c        :;<        5ji 

Mind  may  act  upon  mind,  though  bodies  be  far 
divided ; 

For  the  life  is  in  the  blood,  but  souls  communi- 
cate unseen : 

And  the  best  of  an  exalted  intellect,  radiating  to 
its  fellows, 


Doth  kindle  dry  leaves  afar  off,  while  the  green 
wood  around  it  is  unwarmed. 

*  *     * 

The  dog  may  have  a  spirit,  as  well  as  his  brutal 

master ; 
A  spirit  to  live  in  happiness ;  for  why  should  he 

be  robbed  of  his  existence  *? 
Hath   he   not  a  conscience   of  evil,  a   glimmer  of 

moral  sense, 
Love    and    hatred,   courage    and   fear,   and    visible 

shame  and  pride  ? 
There  may  be  a  future  rest  for  the  patient  victims 

of  the  cruel ; 
And  a  season  allotted  for  their  bliss,  to  compensate 

for  unjust  suffering. 

*  *     * 

Spurn  not  at  seeming  error,  but  dig  below  its  sur- 
face for  the  truth ; 

And  beware  of  seeming  truths,  that  grow  on  the 
roots  of  error: 

For  comely  are  the  apples  that  spring  from  the 
Dead  Sea's  cursed  shore : 

But  within  are  they  dust  and  ashes,  and  the  hand 
that  plucked  them  shall  rue  it. 

*  *     * 

There  is  truth  in  the  wildest  scheme  that  imagin- 
ative heat  hath  engendered, 

And  a  man  may  gather  somewhat  from  the  crudest 
theories  of  fancy. 

*  *     * 

The   alchemist   laboureth    in    folly,   but    catcheth 

chance  gleams  of  wisdom, 
And    findeth    oue    many    inventions,    though    his 

crucible  breed  not  gold. 

*  *     * 

Hints,  shrewdly  strown,  mightily  disturb  the 
spirit, 

Where  a  barefaced  accusation  would  be  too  ridic- 
ulous for  calumny: 

The  sly  suggestion  toucheth  nerves, 

And  friendships,  the  growth  of  half  a  century, 
those  oaks  that  laugh  at  storms, 

Have  been  cankered  in  a  night  by  a  worm.         • 

A  sidelong  look  can  please  or  pain  thy  heart  more 
than  the  multitude  of  proofs. 

*  *     * 

Yet  there  is  a  meanness  of  spirit  that  is  fair  in 

the  eyes  of  most  men, 
Yea,   and   seemeth   fair   unto   itself,   loving   to   be 

though  Humility. 
Its  choler  is  not  roused   by  insolence^  neither  do 

injuries  disturb  it: 
Honest  indignation  is  strange  unto  its  breast,  and 

just  reproof  unto  its  lip. 

—  89  — 


It   shrinketh,   looking   fearfully   on   men,   fawning 

at  the  feet  of  the  great; 
The  breath  of  calumny  is  sweet  unto  its  ear,  and 

it  courteth  the  rod  of  persecution. 
But  what!   art  thou  not  a  man,  deputed  chief  of 

the  creation? 
Art  thou  not^a  soldier  of  the  right,  militant  for 

God  and  good  *? 
Shall  virtue  and  truth  be  degraded  because  thou 

art  too  base  to  uphold  them? 

*        *        -;• 

For  mystery  is  man's  life ;  we  wake  to  the  whis- 
perings of  novelty  ; 

And  what,  though  we  lie  down  disappointed'?  we 
sleep,  to  wake  in  hope. 

The  letter,  or  the  news,  the  chances  and  the 
changes,  matters  that  may  happen, 

Sweeten  or  embitter  daily  life  with  the  honey- 
gall  of  mystery. 

For  we  walk  blindfold, — and  a  minute  may  be 
much, — a  step  may  reach  the  precipice ; 

What  earthly  loss,  what  heavenly  gain,  may  not 
this  day  produce  ? 

Levelled  of  Alps  and  Andes,  without  its  valleys 
and  ravines, 

How  dull  the  face  of  earth,  unfeatured  of  both 
beauty  and  sublimity : 

And  so,  shorn  of  mystery,  beggared  in  its  hopes 
and  fears, 

How  flat  the  prospect  of  existence,  mapped  by 
intuitive  foreknowledge. 

Praise  God,  creature  of  earth,  for  the  mercies 
linked  with  secrecy, 

That  spices  of  uncertainty  enrich  thy  cup  of  life : 

Praise  God,  his  hosts  on  high,  for  the  mysteries 
that  make  all  joy. 


TO   ELLA  WHEELER  WILCOX 

Musical  Spirit,  stay  not  long 
Within   the   realms   of  Light. 

Come  back,  we  miss  thee, 

Earth    is    sad   and    sorrowful    tonight. 

Come  tripping  back  upon   the  winds, 
Come  in  the  dance  of  the  flowers ; 
Come  in  the   song  of   the   lover, 
Come  in  the  joyous  hours. 

Laugh   and   we   will   laugh   with  you 
As  of  old,  for  we  would  not  weep, 
Come  from  the  land  of  silence, 
Come  from  the  land  of  sleep. 

Come  after  you  have  garnered 
The  peace  of  a  thousand  years, 

For  still  the  old  earth  will  be  waiting 
For  you  in  sorrow  and  tears. 

—  90  — 


SANCTUARY 

"Thou  art  weary  of  struggling  and  striving, 

Come  home,"  said  the  convent  bell ; 
"Here  is  my  cloistered  silence,  is  peace, 

Bid  the  world  farewell." 
How  often  I  longed  to  enter 

When  temptations  would  darkly  assail, 
But  always  the  Light  returning, 
New  strength  and  faith  would  prevail ; 
Then  at  last,  with  courage  broken, 

I  stood  on  the  very  brink, 
And  the  cup  that  was  proffered  was  bitter ; 

Yes,  far  too  bitter  to  drink. 
When  again  to  my  burdened  spirit 

Came  the  chimes  of  the  convent  bell : 
"Here  in  my  cloistered  silence 

Is  peace;  bid  the  world  farewell." 

I  turned  at  last  to  enter 

With  eager  heart  and  feet, 
When  lo!  the  noise  of  the  rabble! 

And  there  in  the  dusty  street 
Stood  the  Christ,  footsore  and   weary, 

With  thorns  encircling  his  brow ; 
And  I  said,  "My  Master,  My  Master ! 

I  may  not  enter  now." 
No  cloistered  walls,  no  solitude, 

However  dear  to  me, 
Could  hide  Him  from  the  presence 
Of  His  life's  Gethsemene 
Henceforth  my  soul  thy  sanctuary 

In  service  to  all  is  found ; 
Wherever  heart  hath  need  of  thee, 

Ah,   there   is   holy   ground. 

(Published  in  the  Los  Angeles  Times,  Sunday, 
December  the  21st,  1919.) 


AT  FOUR 

Every  morning,  sure  as  sunrise, 

Is  a  little  willow  chair 
Drawn  up  in  our  cosy  corner, 

Then  a  maid  with  golden  hair 
Sits  and  rocks  her  cherished  dolly, 

Prattling  to  me  all  the  while 
Such  bright,  happy  childish  fancies 

That  I  think  the  angels  smile ; 
For  perchance  they  often  whisper 

To  my  darling  when  asleep — 
In  the  morning  she  must  prattle 

For  such  secrets  will  not  keep. 
-Published  in  the  "Golden  Chain",  San  Francisco, 

CaL,  in  1902. 

—  91  — 


FLOWERS  AND  THOUGHTS 

Published  in  The  Theosophist,  Adyar,  Madras, 
India,  December  1918,  with  the  following  mention 
in  the  "Watch  Tower"  from  the  pen  of  Mrs.  Annie 
Besant,  president  of  the  International  Theosoph- 
ical  Society  : 

"The  following  very  pretty  and  musical  littie 
poem,  was  written  by  Mrs.  Annie  M.  Long  DeBoer, 
American  lady.  It  is  thoroughly  Theosophical  in 
spirit" : 

If  thoughts  are  living  things 

That  speed  away  on  wings, 
To  fall  in  blight  or  blessing  on  the  earth, 

Then  flowers  that  deck  the  sod 

Are  thoughts  of  love,  from  God, 
For  in  Him  all  things  of  beauty  have  their  birth. 

And  when  we  may  plainly  see 

That  in  beauty  is  degree, 
We  will  know  that  even  weeds  may  yet*  be  flowers, 

For  all  things  in  beauty  grow, 

'Twas  the  Father  willed  it  so, 

When   He   planned   this   ever  changing   world   of 
ours. 

Transmutation  is  supreme, 

Laws  immutable   redeem, 
Changing  forms  and  baser  metals  into  gold ; 

And   the  star  dust  of  the   spheres, 

Mingled   with   our  many  tears, 
Are  the  jewels  that  the  future  will  unfold; 

Faith   may  wear  them  on  her  breast — 

Opaline  and  amethyst — 
Wondrous   jewels   from   the   alchemy   of   Time, 

And  their  scintillating  beams 

Shall  reveal  to  her  our  dreams ; 
To  the  pure  all  things  in  Nature  are  divine. 


TO  MARGUERITE 

To  you,  my  Friend  and  Teacher, 

Who  brought  to  me  a  jewel  of  priceless  value, 
And  then,  lest  I  should  love  the  giver  more  than 

the  gift, 

Bade  me  a  long  farewell — 
Knowing  that  I  must  go  out  alone 

From  sheltered  pathways,  into   endless  wander- 
ing and  trials  and  suffering — 
Wherein  my  Jewel   would   alone   suffice   to   bring 

me  Peace, 

I  come   in  perfect  understanding  and   communion 
of   spirit, — after   twenty   years. 

—  92  — 


IDEALS 

AND   THE   DEVELOPMENT   OF  A   WORLD   IDEAL 

The  Necessity  of  an  Ideal 

The  original  fact  of  every  soul  is  a  concrete,  de- 
termined will,  and  the  original  form  of  the  will  is 
impulse,  or  the   birth   of   ideas   or  ideals.     These 
ideals  exist  as  desire,  or  a  longing  for  a  definite 
exercise  of  life.    Thus  our  will  or  desire  nature  is 
the  architect  who  determines  the  form  or  style  of 
our  ideals,  and   mind    is    the    intelligence   which 
directs  and  executes  .the  plans.     Mind  is  the  spark 
of  divinity  within  us  which  has  existed  from  the 
beginning,   but   the   development   of   mind   or   the 
unfoldment   of   divinity  within   us   depends   upon 
the  existence  of  ideas  or  ideals.     Thus  our  desires 
are  the  arbiters  of  our  fate,  choosing  what  is  best 
for  us  in  the  infinite  realms  of  experience.    It  is  not 
mind   or  intelligence   which   creates  ideals.     Mind 
cannot  attain  to  any  degree  of  unfoldment  or  culti- 
vation until  the  will  has  formed  an  idea  or  ideal 
of  that  state  which  it  desires  to  realize.     To  him 
who  has  no  will,  no  desires,  no  emotional  nature, 
all  things  are  of  equal  importance,  and  of  no  im- 
portance^.    Such  lives  are  practically  useless  to  the 
world  unless  devoted  to  the  ideals  of  others.  With- 
out some  definite  object  or  goal  in  view,  we  divide 
and  misdirect  our  energies,  labor  in  vain,  and  pro- 
duce no  valuable  result.     The  true  artist  or  archi- 
tect first  perfects  an  ideal  in  his  mind,  and  then 
seeks  to  give  embodiment  to  that  ideal.     So  it  is  in 
regard    to    the    attainment    of    any-  perfection    in 
mental   or  moral  culture.     All   depends  upon   the 
existence  of  an  ideal,  or  some  accepted  standard  of 
excellence   to   be   attained    or    realized.     All   true 
human  progress  is,  therefore,  the  advancement  to- 
ward some   object  of  unattained  ideal   perfection, 
and  the  influence  of  that  ideal  will  shape  all  sub- 
ordinate objects  of  the  mind  and  soul  of  an  indi- 
vidual, or  of  a  nation — for  nations  have  ideals,  and 
their  influence  is  revealed  upon  art,  industry,  com- 
merce, music,  literature,  and  all  social  institutions 
of  civil  and  religious  life.    If  the  ideals  of  a  nation 
are    Liberty,    Equity    and  Universal    Brotherhood, 
those    ideals    must    be    realized     to     all     mankind, 
although   the   way  of  their   realization   shall   lead 
men  through  the  valley  and  the  shadow  of  death. 
Every  day,  every  moment  of  the  past,  has  been  the 
servant  of  the  present.  Tne  overthrowing  of  crowns 
and  scepters  has  but  one  message  to  the  world — the 
message  of  Universal  Brotherhood.     Obedient  to  a 
mighty  impulse,  the  impulse  of  a  resistless  evolu- 

—  93  — 


tion,  the  ideals  of  nations  as  the  ideals  of  individu- 
als are  moving  forward  to  the  highest  uses  of  law, 
and  the  divinest  privilege  of  Freedom.  When 
Plato  brought  his  ideal  dream  of  a  Republic  to 
Athens  he  wrought  for  our  Republic,  and  when  a 
patricion  of  Rome  said  to  Cicero,  "You  are  a  plebe- 
ian", and  he  answered  him  thus :  "I  AM  a  plebe- 
ian ;  the  nobility  of  my  family  begins  with  me ; 
that  of  yours  will  end  with  you.  I  hold  no  man 
deserves  to  be  crowned  with  honor  whose  life  is  a 
failure ;  and  he  who  lives  only  to  eat  and  drink 
and  accumulate  money  is  a  failure.  The  world  is 
no  better  for  his  living  in  it,"  he  spoke  for  true 
manhood,  everywhere. 


IDEALS   AND  TRUTHS   ARE   PROGRESSIVE 

Those  who,  unnoticed  or  noticed  and  martyred 
by  the  world,  maintain  their  devotion  to  their 
ideals  of  truth  and  principle,  are  the  truly  great; 
but,  however  devoted  man  may  be  to  an  ideal 
of  truth,  if  he  is  progressive  he  will  find  his 
ideals  of  Truth  constantly  changing.  As  our  con- 
viction or  perception  of  Truth  should  always  be 
held  subject  to  education  and  observation,  so  our 
ideals  should  always  be  held  subject  to  each  new 
perception  of  Truth. 

We  are  reluctant  to  admit  that  ideals  and  truths 
are  progressive,  yet  a  mind  incapable  of  under- 
standing that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  unconditioned 
truth,  is  incapable  of  enjoying  mental  freedom, 
and  a  mind  incapable  of  understanding  that  ideals 
are  progressive  is  likely  to  end  its  present  incarna- 
tion in  bigotry,  superstition,  or  intolerance  of  the 
ideals  of  others.  If  we  are  capable  of  fitting  out 
our  best  truth  to  each  new  experience,  instead  of 
fitting  each  new  experience  to  our  accepted  truth, 
we  may  hope  to  grow  and  expand  normally  and 
healthfully,  and  if  a  soul  is  capable  of  understand- 
ing that  ideals  are  progressive,  it  is  spared  suffering 
and  disappointment ;  however,  the  very  existence 
of  our  ideals  will  not  permit  of  doubt  and  unbe- 
lief, hence  sorrow  and  disappointment  in  the  van- 
ishing of  our  mighty  gods  is  always  attendant  upon 
our  ideals  and  is  a  part  of  the  Divine  Plan. 

Emerson  says  that  "Valor  consists  in  self-recov- 
ery, so  that  a  man  cannot  be  turned,  cannot  be  out- 
generaled, but  put  him  where  you  will,  he  stands," 
and  that  "this  can  only  be  by  his  preferring  truth 
to  his  past  apprehension  of  truth,  and  his  alert 
acceptance  of  it  from  whatever  quarter."  So  would 
I  say  that  occultism,  spirituality,  or  soul  progress, 
consists  in  soul  recovery  of  our  ideals.  When  we 
have  been  brought  to  realize  that  the  world  of  our 
ideals  which  we  had  created  and  in  which  we  lived 
and  moved  and  had  our  being  has  been  destroyed 
and  we  are  adrift  in  a  chaotic  void  of  space,  we 


have  progressed  far  toward  God  if  we  are  capable 
of  gathering  up  the  broken  fragments  of  our  ideals 
and  weaving  them  together  again  into  a  more  per- 
fect pattern. 

The  continual  effort  to  raise  ourselves  above  our- 
selves is  revealed  in  our  ideals.  We  are  heart 
hungry  for  praise  and  approbation,  but  we  cannot 
forgive  our  friend  who  praises  us  and  is  seemingly 
satisfied  with  the  result  of  our  endeavor,  for  our 
own  soul  is  ever  urging  is  onward  and  upward  to 
heights  of  unattained  perfection.  Great  artists 
have  destroyed  various  creations  of  their  own 
brush ;  sculptors  have  spent  months  on  statues  only 
to  smash  them;  Carlyle  three  times  wrote  the  His- 
tory of  the  French  Revolution,  the  first  two  pro- 
ductions having  been  destroyed.  There  are  ines- 
timable resources  in  our  souls  upon  which  we  have 
not  drawn ;  in  some  supreme  crisis  of  our  lives  is 
revealed  our  strength — our  visions.  Our  soul  de- 
velopment is  a  series  of  surprises ;  step  by  step  we 
climb  the  mysterious  ladder  of  our  lives,  and  as  we 
climb,  new  scenes,  new  visions  open  before  our 
wondering  eyes ;  every  found  thing  suggests  some 
unfound  thing ;  every  truth  suggests  some  new 
truth  ;  every  star  that  is  brought  within  our  ken 
suggests  still  further  constellations,  and  with  Ste- 
phenson  we  would  exclaim  : 

"O  toiling  hands  of  mortals !  O  unwearied  feet, 
traveling  you  know  not  whither!  Soon,  soon  it 
seems  to  you,  you  must  come  forth  upon  some  con- 
spicuous hilltop,  and  but  a  little  way  farther  against 
the  setting  sun,  descry  the  spires  of  Eldorado.  Lit- 
tle do  you  know  your  own  blessedness,  for  to  travel 
hopefully  is  a  better  thing  than  to  arrive,  and  the 
true  reward- is  to  labor." 


THE   FRIENDSHIP-LOVE    IDEAL 

Love  in  its  purity  and  friendship  in  its  sublimity 
have  always  been  the  inspiration  of  ideals. 

For  a  hundred  years  or  more,  during  the  age  of 
chivalry,  the  bravest,  the  noblest  men  of  Europe 
knqw  no  duty  above  their  ladies'  pleasure.  This 
devotion  to  their  ideal  woman  brought  civilization 
out  of  savagery  and  barbarism,  and  added  to  the 
warrior's  courage  the  royal  name  of  gentleman.  But 
for  this  devotion  of  Knight  to  Lady  there  would 
have  been  no  modern  era  with  its  finer  social  senti- 
ments, and  just  in  proportion  is  this  devotion  is 
lost  and  men  become  skeptical  of  woman's  sanc- 
tity, does  society  lose  its  moral,  no  less  than  its 
sentimental  tone. 

Dante,  the  immortal  Dante,  was  born  at  the  close 
of  the  age  of  chivalry.  The  influence  of  its  sell- 
abnegating  spirit  in  its  loyalty  to  ideal  womanhood 
had  already  been  bequethed  to  the  world,  but  in 
Dante  is  found  its  truest  exponent. 

—  95  — 


The  life  of  Dante  is  one  of  the  saddest  annals  of 
history.  Of  noble  birth  and  a  proud  earnest 
nature,  he  became  involved  in  the  political  disturb- 
ances of  his  day.  The  opposing  party  gaining  the 
ascendancy,  his  property  was  confiscated  and  Dante 
himself  exiled.  An  old  document  still  extant  in 
the  archives  of  Florence  states  that  he  shall  be 
burnt  alive  should  he  be  caught. 

He  wandered  from  place  to  place  filled  with  sar- 
casm and  sorrow,  but  keeping  always  the  image  of 
his  beloved  Beatrice  within  his  heart.  Exiled  for- 
ever from  her  and  his  home  in  Florence,  he  dwelt 
more  and  more  in  the  eternal  world.  His  Divine 
Comedy,  his  mystic  unfathomable  song,  is  as  it 
were  the  soul  of  Dante  laid  on  the  altar  of  love 
as  an  offering  to  the  ages. 

In  a  series  of  poems,  Dante  himself  tells  of  the 
great  love  for  Beatrice  which  possessed  his  whole 
being  through  the  ideal  which  she  presented  to 
him.  His  whole  thought  was  of  her  transcendent 
worth  and  his  whole  desire  was  to  live  so  as  to 
be  worthy  to  be  known  as  her  friend.  Always  his 
acquaintance  with  her  was  of  the  slightest  and  she 
was  wedded  to  another.  In  speaking  of  the  effect 
upon  him  of  the  sight  of  her,  he  said : 

"There  no  longer  remained  to  me  an  enemy,  nay 
a  flame  of  charity  possessed  me  which  made  me 
pardon  everyone  who  had  done  me  wrong,  and  had 
anyone  at  that  time  questioned  me  of  anything,  my 
only  answer  would  have  been  lov,  and  my  face 
would  have  been  clothed  in  humility." 

After  her  death  and  after  his  triumph  over  a 
temptation  to  give  her  a  lower  place  in  his  mind, 
he  recorded  this  new  purpose  of  his : 

"A  wonderful  vision  appeared  to  me  in  which  I 
saw  things  which  made  me  resolve  to  speak  no 
more  of  the  blessed  one  until  I  could  more  worth- 
ily treat  of  her,  and  to  attain  this  I  study  to  the 
utmost  of  my  power  as  she  truly  knoweth.  So  that 
if  it  may  please  Him,  through  Whom  all  things 
live,  that  my  life  may  be  prolonged  for  some  years, 
I  hope  to  say  of  her  what  has  never  been  said  of 
any  woman." 

The  outcome  of  this  purpose  of  Dante  was  the 
Divine  Comedy,  wherein  Beatrice  appears  as  the 
personification  of  heavenly  enlightenment.  As 
Longfellow  has  so  beautifully  said : 

"Ah,  from  what  agonies  of  heart  and  brain — 

What  exultation  trampling  on  despair, — 
What  tenderness,  what  tears,  what  hate  of  wrong, 
What  passionate  outcry  of  a  soul  in  pain, 
_  Uprose  this  poem  of  earth  and  air, 
This  medieval  miracle  of  song!" 

—  96  — 


-4  beautiful  parable  of  a  Persian  poet  tells  us 
that  : 

"One  knocked  at  the  Beloved's  door,  and  a  voice 
asked  from  within,  'Who  is  there  ?'  and  he  an- 
swered, 'It  is  I.'  Then  the  voice  said,  'This  house 
will  not  hold  me  and  thee,'  and  the  door  was  not 
opened.  Then  went  the  lover  into  the  desert  and 
fasted  and  prayed  in  solitude,  and  after  a  year  he 
returned  and  knocked  again  at  the  door,  and  again 
the  voice  said,v'Who  is  there  *?'  and  he  said,  'It  is 
thyself,'  and  the  door  was  opened  to  him." 

Thus  it  shall  always  be  with  our  ideals.  As  we 
image  in  our  lives  the  character  of  our  ideals,  so  do 
we  progress  in  our  journey  toward  God,  Who  is 
our  home.  He  who  cannot  idealize  a  friend  has 
never  known  the  great  joy  and  sorrow  of  friend- 
ship, and  to  discover  divinity  within  another  soul 
is  to  be  divine.  Never  perhaps  have  we  read  any- 
thing more  beautiful  (in  the  thought  it  conveys) 
than  the  following  poem,  entitled  "Transfigured" : 

Almost  afraid  they  led  her  in : 

(A  dwarf  more  piteous  none  could  find)  : 

Withered  as  some  weird  leaf,  and  thin, 
The  woman  was — and  wan  and  blind. 

"Into  the  mirror  with  a  smile — 
Not  vain  to  be  so  fair,  but  glad — 

The  South-born  painter  looked  the  while, 
With  eyes  than  Christ's  alone  less  sad. 

"Mother  of  God,"  in  calm  surprise 

He  whispered,  "What  am  I  to  paint?" 

A  voice  that  sounded  from  the  skies 
Said  to  him :    "Raphael,  a  saint." 

She  sat  before  him  in  the  sun ; 

He  scarce  could  look  at  her,  and  she 
Was  still  and  silent.    "It  is  done," 

He  said.    "Oh,  call  the  world  to  see!" 

And  there  was  she  in  veriest  truth — 
Transcendent  face  and  haloed  hair ; 

The  beauty  of  divinest  youth, 
Divinely  beautiful,  was  there. 

Herself  into  her  picture  passed — 
Herself  and  not  her  poor  disguise 

Made  up  of  time  and  dust.    At  last 
One  saw  her  with  the  Master's  eyes." 

Thus  a  poet's  ideals  are  revealed  in  his  poetry,  a 
sculptor's  ideals  are  embodied  in  his  creation,  and 
the  soul  of  the  musician  speaks  to  the  world  in  the 
divine  rhapsodies  of  song.  Sometimes  in  towers 
and  aisles  of  granite,  the  soul's  worship  is  builded, 
and  sometimes  only  in  words,  but  in  words  fraught 
with  vitality  and  power. 

—  97  — 


The  shadowy  gods  of  the  ancient  Greeks  and 
Romans  are  insignificant  in  comparison  with  the 
immortal  representation  of  their  ideals  in  art.  In 
the  Venus  de  Milo  and  the  Apollo  Belvidere  are 
assembled  all  the  beauties  and  perfections  that  then 
existed  in  the  soul  of  man.  Their  architecture  is 
yet  the  marvel  of  the  world. 

The  man  of  ideals  becomes  the  prophet  of  his 
ideals ;  only  he  can  give  who  has  received,  and 
only  he  can  inspire  others  whose  own  soul  has 
received  inspiration.  When  we  have  received  an 
inspiration  we  must  of  necessity  impart  that  vision 
to  others,  and  blessed  are  they  who  having  not  seen 
believe!  Blessed  are  they  who  are  putting  into 
visible  forms  of  beauty  and  usefulness  for  the 
world,  the  dream  that  exists  in  the  soul  of  the 
dreamer.  They  are  the  toilers,  the  builders,  the 
very  salt  of  the  earth. 


THE  RELIGIOUS  IDEAL 

Religion,  or  the  binding  of  human  beings  to  the 
unseen  power  of  the  universe,  has  existed  in  some 
form  since  the  evolving  faculties  of  man  first 
grasped  the  idea  of  a  cause,  and  the  strongest  ideals 
of  a  people  are  always  objectified  in  the  nature  of 
its  gods  or  God.  Even  in  mythology  or  nature 
worship  are  found  the  ideals  which  prove  the  exist- 
ence of  great  moral  or  spiritual  forces  working  on 
the  hearts  of  men. 

The  first  and  perhaps  greatest  development  of  a 
religious  ideal  was  in  the  valley  of  the  Nile.  There, 
far  back  in  the  shadowy  ages  of  the  past,  existed  in 
Egypt  a  religion  of  astounding  sublimity  and  a 
civilization  to  which  the  world  must  look  up  for 
ages  to  come.  This  religion  and  its  resultant  civil- 
ization is  known  to  the  present  only  by  its  ideals 
as  embodied  in  what  remains  of  its  art  and  its  liter- 
ature, as  engraved  on  excavated  tablets  and  stones, 
and  what  Greek  and  Latin  historians  have  recorded 
in  their  annals.  When  Plato  wove  the  story  of 
Atlantis,  when  Herodotus  visited  Egypt  in  the 
third  century  before  Christ,  or  when  Plutarch  gath- 
ered the  legend  of  Osiris,  within  seventy  or  eighty 
years  after,  the  glory  of  ancient  Egypt  was  a  thing 
of  the  past,  and  the  religion  of  that  period  was  as 
remote  to  the  Egyptians  themselves  as  it  now  is 
to  us,  except  to  priests  initiated  in  the  mysteries, 
who  have  always  felt  a  certain  horror  at  the  Greek 
and  Roman  interpretations ;  but  it  was  plainly  re- 
vealed to  the  Greek  and  Roman  historians  that  the 
ancient  religion,  in  its  purity,  taught  the  immor- 
tality of  the  soul,  and  worship  of  a  Power,  illimit- 
able, incomprehensible  and  eternal,  behind  the  vis- 
ible phenomena  of  the  universe.  He  was  the  "One", 
"Living  in  Truth",  "Truth  Itself",  "The  Essence 

—  98  — 


of  Righteousness",  words  used  in  the  "Book  of  the 
Dead",  the  most  ancient  of  human  documents,  a 
collection  of  prayers,  invocations  and  protecting 
spells,  laid  with  the  mummy  to  guard  the  dead  in 
his  perilous  journey  through  Amenti.  He  who 
knows  this  book,"  says  a  sarcophagus  of  the  XII 
dynasty,  "is  one  who  in  the  day  of  ressurrection  in 
the  under  world  arises  and  enters  in." 

The  ancient  document  calls  the  day  of  death  the 
"day  of  birth",  when  clothed  in  the  garment  of 
truth,  the  soul  journeyed  onward  to  the  "divine 
lower  world",  where  he  is  brought  before  Osiris. 
In  chapter  125,  the  most  famous  chapter  of  this 
book,  the  justified  one  speaks  as  follows  to  the 
forty-two  accusers,  or  assessors: 

"Oh  gods,  dwellers  of  the  divine  under-world, 
hear  the  voice  of  Osiris  N.!  He  has  arrived  near 
you.  There  is  no  fault  found  in  him,  no  sin 
against  him;  no  witness  against  him.  He  lives 
on  truth,  nourishes  himself  on  truth.  The  heart  of 
the  gods  is  satisfied  with  what  he  has  done — he 
has  given  bread  to  the  hungry,  water  to  the 
thirsty,  clothing  to  the  naked.  .  .  There  is  no 
witness  against  him  before  any  god." 

And  the  defense  of  the  dead : 

"I  have  guarded  myself  from  holding  godless 
speeches.  I  have  committed  no  revenge  in  act  or 
in  heart;  no  excesses  in  love;  I  have  injured  no 
one  with  lies;  have  driven  away  no  beggars,  com- 
mitted no  treacheries,  caused  no  tears.  I  have  not 
taken  another's  property,  nor  committeed  murder, 
nor  ruined  another,  nor  destroyed  the  laws  of 
righteousness.  I  have  not  aroused  contests,  nor 
neglected  the  Creator  of  my  soul.  I  have  done  no 
robbery.  I  have  not  disturbed  the  joy  of  others. 
I  have  not  passed  by  the  oppressed,  sinning  against 
my  Creator  or  the  Lord  or  the  heavenly  powers." 

The  rubric  or  written  instruction  which  follows 
this  chapter  states  that  it  was  to  be  repeated  on 
earth  with  great  solemnity,  and  the  worshiper 
must  be  "clad  in  pure  linen,  shod  with  white  san- 
dals, and  annointed  with  fragrant  oil,  because  he 
is  received  into  the  service  of  Osiris".  A  hidden 
and  inspired  meaning  was  attached  to  the  Book  of 
the  Dead  which  only  the  priests  were  supposed  to 
understand. 

The  sun  was  worshiped  as  a  manifestation  oi 
the  unknown  being!  "Thy  rays,"  says  the  wor- 
shiper, "come  from  a  face  unknown;  thou  march- 
est  unknown;  thou  shinest  upon  us,  and  we  do 
not  know  thy  body." 

"Book  of  the  Dead"  is  one  long  song  of  praise 
to  Osiris.  There  are  found  such  selections  as 
the  following:  "He  was  appointed  to  reign  over 
the  gods  in  the  presence  of  the  supreme  lord 

—  99  — 


in  the  day  of  the  constitution  of  the  world. 
From  assimilation  with  him  comes  the  perfection 
of  being."  "Oh,  Osiris,  thy  mother  hath  begotten 
thee  in  the  world.  She  hath  called  thee  with  a 
beautiful  name.  Goodness,  thy  name  in  the  lower 
heaven ;  Lord  of  Life  thy  name  among  the  liv- 
ing, .  .  .  but  thy  true  name  is  God." 

Osiris  was  the  embodiment  of  love,  and  the 
dream  of  union  with  him  was  the  dying  hope  of 
all  Egyptians.  Almost  every  grave  inscription 
speaks  of  the  dead  as  having  "passed  over  to  union 
with  Osiris,  the  high  and  holy."  At  the  close  of 
the  "Book  of  the  Dead"  it  is  said  of  him:  "He 
shall  be  deified  among  the  gods  ...  he  shall 
not  be  rejected.  It  shall  be  granted  to  him  to 
shine  like  a  star  forever  in  heaven." 

This  religion  of  the  Egyptians  raised  them  from 
a  nomadic  state  of  existence,  taught  them  science, 
agriculture  and  art,  and  lifted  them  to  the  highest 
state  of  civilization — such  civilization  as  was  later 
idealized  and  imitated  in  Greece  and  Rome.  Why, 
then,  may  we  ask,  did  it  perish  from  the  earth,  or 
change  into  polytheism  and  idolatry  ? 

Was  it  because  of  the  abuse  of  power  by  the 
priests  who  kept  the  people  in  ignorance  and  super- 
stition ?  Was  it  because  it  lacked  the  simplicity 
and  humility  and  humanity  of  Christianity,  or  was 
it  because,  unlike  Buddhism,  "the  Light  of  India", 
it  took  its  inspiration  from  without,  from  the 
visible  aspects  of  nature,  and  not  from  knowledge 
and  understanding  of  the  invisible  things  of  the 
spirit?  We  know  that  the  Ancient  Egyptians 
were  versed  in  all  the  mechanism  of  nature.  They 
studied  the  stars  and  formulated  our  present  sys- 
tem of  astronomy  and  astrology.  They  produced 
gems  wondrous  in  beauty  which  were  of  stupen- 
dous power  when  used  in  conjunction  with  words 
of  mystic  meaning.  The  "woman  of  Endor",  whom 
King  Saul  visited,  was  versed  in  all  the  wisdom  of 
ancient  Egypt.  She  could  summon  spirits,  and 
she  was  appalled  when  she  saw  "gods  descending 
to  the  earth",  but  that  did  not  make  her  spiritual. 
Spirituality,  which  is  only  another  name  for  divine 
love  and  mercy,  is  acquired  in  the  hard  school  of 
life,  through  days  of  sorrow  and  nights  of  pain. 
It  does  not  consist  in  feeling  good  nor  in  being 
lulled  to  sleep  by  the  power  of  ritual,  rites,  or 
ceremonies.  There  is  far  more  spirituality  in  the 
world  today  than  ever  before,  because  the  world 
is  waking  up  to  the  great  fact  of  Brotherhood  and 
Unity  of  all  Humanity.  It  is  easy  to  forget  self  in 
service  to  others,  and  he  who  gives  a  cup  of  cold 
water  to  the  thirsty,  he  who  gives  bread  to  the 
hungry,  or  heals  the*  sick,  or  leads  the  blind,  is 
functioning  on  higher  planes,  whether  he  knows 
it  or  not.  The  secrets  and  mystical  ceremonies 
of  the  ancient  Egyptians  never  interpreted  the 

—  100  — 


spiritual  universe,  but  the  spiritual  universe  has 
found  unfoldment  within  the  natural  universe. 
Divine  powers  unfold  only  to  him  who  is  fitted  to 
receive  them,  and  to  use  them  in  the  advancement 
of  the  evolution  of  all  humanity.  As  is  written 
in  Mabel  Collins'  wonderful  book,  the  "Black  Art 
of  Fleta  must  be  changed  to  he  White  Art  of  Man, 
the  occultist." 

Human  nature,  apart  from  the  divine  nature,  is 
susceptible  only  of  a  certain  degree  of  cultivation, 
and  when  that  point  has  been  reached  a  decline 
necessarily  follows. 

*  *  * 


THE  TRUE  IDEAL 

The  true  idea  of  development  is  the  unfolding 
of  the  divine  nature  from  within.  The  nations 
and  their  religions  of  antiquity  perished  because 
they  had  not  developed  progressive,  humanitarian 
ideals.  The  true  intellectual  or  moral  progress  of 
an  individual,  of  a  nation  or  of  a  world,  depends 
upon  an  ideal  standard  toward  which  an  endless 
advance  can  be  made.  It  is  then  a  point  of  first 
importance  to  come  to  a  determination  of  the  true 
ideal.  This  ideal  does  not  consist  of  an  ideal  of 
national  supremacy.  The  Romans  reached  that 
ideal  and  saw  k  decline.  It  does  not  end  in  civil 
and  religious  freedom,  nor  the  exercise  of  "inalien- 
able rights".  Such  are  only  constructive  elements, 
absolutely  necessary  and  conducive  to  the  greater 
ideal.  America  has  realized  the  ideal  of  civil  and 
religious  freedom.  She  has  attained  to  a  realiza- 
tion of  the  beautiful  and  useful  in  the  arts  and 
sciences,  and  she  excels  in  all  departments  of  in- 
dustry and  commerce,  but  all  these  attainments  are 
only  conducive  to  and  prophetic  of  a  more  glori- 
ous career  wherein  the  true  ideal  is  beginning  to 
have  form  within  the  hearts  of  men.  Human  prog- 
ress is  not  in  the  promotion  of  merely  national 
interests.  Man's  highest  development  is  in  the 
perfection  of  his  mental  and  moral  nature,  the 
realization  of  his  divinity,  and  the  unfolding  of 
this  ideal  is  from  within. 

The  visible  forms  and  civilizations  of  antiquity 
perished,  but  the  divine  attributes  of  the  mind  and 
soul  of  man  are  never  lost,  but  live  forever,  pass- 
ing from  life  to  life,  experience  to  experience,  even 
as  the  Divine  Truth  which  lives  in  higher  forms 
beyond  the  reach  of  the  "changing  worlds".  The 
infinite  mutations  of  form  and  the  endless  pil- 
grimage of  the  soul  are  beautifully  expressed  in 
Shelley's  mystical  poem,  "The  Cloud"  : 

"I  am  the  daughter  of  earth  and  water, 

And  the  nursling  of  the  sky ; 
I  pass  through  the  pores  of  the  ocean  and  shores, 

I  change,  but  I  cannot  die. 

—  101  — 


For,  after  the  rain,  when  with  never  a  stain 

The  pavilion  of  heaven  is  bare, 
And  the  winds  and  the  sunbeams,  with  their  con- 
vex gleams, 

Build  up  the  blue  dome  of  the  air, 
I  silently  laugh  at  my  own  centotaph, 

And  out  of  the  caverns  of  rain, 
Like  a  child  from  the  womb,  like  a  ghost  from  the 
tomb, 

I  arise  and  upbuild  it  again." 

Thus  to  the  soul  in  its  long  pilgrimage  this 
world  is  only  a  school,  and  the  knowledge  acquired 
here  will  aid  in  its  future  travels  into  the  unknown. 
Nature,  always  cautious  of  expenditure,  has  been 
millions  of  years  preparing  for  the  future  of  the 
soul.  Always  cautious  of  the  suffering  of  her  chil- 
dren, while  seemingly  grim  and  inexorable  in  her 
laws,  she  has  often  permitted  a  baptism  of  blood 
that  shall  bear  to  this  end,  and  throughout  all  the 
ages  of  the  world,  during  man's  development 
from  savagery,  and  during  the  rise  and  fall  of 
nations  the  great  wheel  of  life  has  moved  slowly 
forward  to  the  consummation  of  the  divine  ideal. 
Truly,  "Eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  neither 
hath  entered  into  the  heart  of  man,  the  things 
that  God  hath  prepared  for  those  that  love  Him." 

There  are  people  (we  are  glad  to  know  they  are 
constantly  coming  into  the  light)  who  think  of  the 
universe  as  a  clock,  wound  up  and  set  in  motion 
and  left  to  itself  in  the  fulfillment  of  immutable 
law — a  vast  machinery,  constantly  grinding  out  the 
fate  of  all.  To  such  souls  prayer  is  a  mockery 
and  hope  is  vain.  Ah!  could  they  but  know  that 
the  union  of  the  finite  and  Infinite  is  so  close  that 
when  we  lift  our  hearts  in  prayer  we  make  pos- 
sible the  answer  to  that  prayer — for  "God  is  All 
and  in  All",  and  we  are  co-workers  with  Him  in 

shaping  our  lives. 

*  *  * 

PHILOSOPHICAL  AND  THEOSOPHICAL  IDEAL 

Philosophy  has  been  defined  as  "man's  innate 
curiosity",  but  it  is  our  "moving  about  in  worlds 
not  realized"  which  proves  us  divine.  The  human 
mind  will  not  acknowledge  limits  to  its  powers. 
That  philosophy  of  life,  or  that  religion  of  life, 
which  is  baffled  by  mystery  is  unsatisfactory.  The 
soul,  kept  in  ignorance  of  latent  powers,  drifts 
into  superstition,  intolerance,  and  gross  materiality. 
Theosophy  rightly  maintains  that  "There  is  no  re- 
ligion higher  than  Truth",  and  Truth  in  its 
entirety  is  God.  All  ideals,  all  religions  have  con- 
tained some  portion  of  Truth.  Any  ideal,  any 
religion,  is  better  than  no  ideal,  no  religion,  for 
in  all  have  been  revealed  some  fragment  of  Truth  ; 
and  as  students  of  Theosophy  we  hold  that  Truth 
may  be  sought  by  purity  of  life  and  devotion  to 

—  102  — 


high  ideals.  The  essence  of  Theosophy  is  the 
fact  that  man,  being  divine,  partaking  in  the  part 
of  the  divine  nature,  may  know  the  divinity  of  the 
life  he  shares,  and  if  all  are  divine,  then  the  Broth- 
erhood or  Unity  of  all  is  a  fact  in  nature  to  be 
lived  up  to — if  we  wish  not  to  injure  or  destroy 
ourselves.  The  world  has  progressed  tremendously 
within  the  past  fifty  years,  not  only  in  science  and 
invention,  but  in  the  advancement  of  all  stand- 
ards of  morality.  Orthodoxy  once  taught  people 
to  think  of  morality  as  a  collection  of  arbitrary 
laws,  imposed  upon  them  by  a  super-mundane  be- 
ing for  their  spiritual  instruction.  It  is  now  uni- 
versally recognized  that  moral  law  is  natural  law, 
in  the  sense  of  its  being  the  condition  of  our  health 
and  happiness,  and  that  the  transgression  of  -moral 
law  will  bring  upon  nations  as  well  as  individuals 
misfortune  and  destruction.  Whoever  disregards 
the  law  of  fire  will  be  consumed  by  fire ;  whoever 
disregards  the  law  of  gravity  will  be  dashed  to 
pieces  on  the  rocks  below,  and  whoever  disobeys 
the  laws  of  morality  will  pay  the  cost  in  physical 
and  mental  suffering.  He  who  surrenders  himself 
to  idleness  and  pleasure  will  find  his  physical  as 
well  as  his  moral  well-being  destroyed — useful  act- 
ivity is  followed  by  pleasure,  and  mental  activi- 
ties or  capacities  grow  strong  through  exercise. 

The  standards  of  merits  are  no  longer  those  of 
wealth  and  power  over  the  lives  of  others.  The 
world  is  entering  upon  a  new  era,  an  era  of  supra- 
consciousness.  Existence  can  no  longer  be  ex- 
plained by  the  means  of  physical  forces  alone,  and 
the  relation  of  tfye  individual  mind  to  the  univer- 
sal mind  is  beginning  to  be  realized.  As  our  ab- 
stract knowledge  has  enabled  us  to  perceive  that 
our  physical  life  is  not  independent,  but  is  con- 
tained in  a  larger  system,  so  we  now  perceive  that 
our  soul  life,  is  also  not  independent,  but  is  con- 
tained in  a  much  larger  system,  and  as  Weller  ^Van 
Hook  pointed  out  in  a  recent  number  of  "The 
Messenger",  "the  illuminating  truth  of  Dharma" 
is  "breaking  through  the  darkness".  The  world  is 
learning  that  stronger  souls  may  help  advance 
the  evolution  of  the  "small  and  weak",  and  that 
in  unity  only  is  strength  and  eternal  progress.  If 
you  doubt  the  development  of  this  new  World 
Ideal,  ponder  again  those  words  of  President 
Wilson  : 

"We  are  fighting  for  the  liberty,  the  self-gov- 
ernment, and  the  undictated  development  of  all 
peoples,  and  every  settlement  that  concludes  this 
war  must  be  conceived  and  executed  for  that  pur- 
pose. 

"No  people  must  be  forced  under  sovereignty 
under  which  it  does  not  wish  to  live.  The  Broth- 
erhood of  Mankind  must  no  longer  be  a  fair  but 
empty  phrase ;  it  must  be  given  the  structure  of 

— 103  — 


force  and  reality.  The  nations  must  realize  their 
common  'life,  and  effect  a  workable  partnership 
to  secure  that  life  against  the  aggressions  of  auto- 
cratic and  self-pleasing  power." 

In  the  new  philosophical  ideal  that  is  forming 
within  the  mind  and  hearts  of  men,  it  is  clearly 
recognized  that  no  nation,  no  class,  or  no  indi- 
vidual has  any  true  interest  apart  from  the  uni- 
versal good,  and  that  we  best  promote  our  own 
welfare  when  we  are  helping  to  advance  the  inter- 
ests of  all  humanity.  It  is  now  universally  recog- 
nized that  he  who  is  truly  great  has  become  the 
servant  of  all.  After  nineteen  centuries  the  teach- 
ing of  the  Christ  to  His  disciples,  "Whoever  shall 
be  great  among  you  shall  be  your  minister,  and 
whoever  among  you  will  be  chiefest  shall  be  the 
servant  of  all,"  is  being  universally  recognized, 
if  not  universally  practiced,  as  the  great  basic 
Truth  of  all  religion  and  philosophy  of  life. 

In  following  the  life  of  Christ  as  recorded  in 
the  Gospels,  we  mark  how  keenly  alive  He  was 
to  the  real  or  unreal,  but  terribly  vital  needs  of 
the  world  in  which  He  lived.  The  amelioration 
of  human  ills  in  whatever  form  constituted  the 
burden  of  his  life.  All  who  needed  sympathy 
found  in  Him  a  friend,  and  the  more  they  were 
despised  and  rejected  by  others,  the  warmer  was 
His  love  and  sympathy  toward  them.  The  sick 
and  the  blind,  the  oucast  and  the  erring,  the  cap- 
tive and  the  oppressed,  all  were  objects  of  His 
divine  love  and  sympathy.  His  life,  as  the  lives 
of  all  great  philanthropists  and  all  great  reform- 
ers, was  a  failure  as  judged  from  natural  stand- 
point. He  had  come  to  proclaim  a  kingdom  and 
had  been  defeated.  His  death  on  the  cross  was 
seemingly  the  end  of  a  life  of  failure,  and  yet, 
how  glorious,  how  sublime  was  His  life  as  judged 
from  the  standpoint  of  service  to  the  world! 

As  -we  have  listened  to  the  world's  conflicting 
interests,  nation  at  war  with  nation,  and  avarice 
and  greed  trampling  down  the  weak  and  poor,  we* 
have  wondered  if  the  teaching  of  the  world's  sav- 
iours, the  world's  failures  will  ever  be  universally 
observed,  but  the  cloud  of  our  doubts  is  begin- 
ning to  reveal  the  silver  lining.  Always  the  dark- 
est hour  ushers  in  the  dawn,  and  the  signs  of  the 
times  tend  to  prove  that  the  world  is  entering 
upon  a  new  era,  an  era  of  universal  brotherhood, 
and  that  a  better  and  higher  life  is  spreading 
throughout  the  world.  Everything  tends  to  prove 
that  we  are  approaching  that  phase  of  civiliza- 
tion, that  cycle  of  evolution,  when  a  great  World 
Teacher,  a  World  Savior  will  again  appear.  It  is 
a  startling  fact  that  the  coming  of  the  Wave  of 
Peace  has  always  been  preceded  by  wars,  by  great 
cataclysms  and  great  industrial  strife.  Those  who 
have  gone  before  and  prepared  the  way  have 

—  104  — 


always  been  the  apparent  martyrs  and  victims,  and 
every  great  gift  to  humanity  has  been  dyed  in 
the  heart  blood  of  the  brave.  The  war  brought 
an  appalling  amount  of  suffering,  and  the  period 
of  readjustment  and  reconstruction  will  be  long 
and  severe,  but  we  know  it  will  not  be  in  vain, 
and  that  out  of  it  all  will  come  a  better  and  higher 
life  for  all  humanity.  We  know,  we  perceive, 
that  great  potencies  for  good  are  abroad  in  the 
world  of  today — unity,  friendliness,  industry,  pro- 
hibition, discipline — and  so  far  as  we  can  see  when 
we  view  things  on  a  large  scale,  Justice  seems  to 
be  the  keynote  of  the  age.  Great  suffering,  great 
trials  are  bringing  to  pass  the  abolishment  of 
caste  and  creed.  There  are  no  longer  any  social 
disturbances  because  of  wealth,  and  the  rights  of 
all  mankind  to  natural  opportunities  are  being 
asserted.  There  will  never  be  an  accepted  crite- 
rion for  the  division  of  wealth,  for  man  is  en- 
dowed with  moral  freedom  and  hope  and  fear,  gain 
and  loss,  success  and  failure  must  ever  be  possible, 
for  the  great  law  of  Karma  rules  the  world  and 
man  must  reap  as  he  has  sown,  but  the  right  of 
property,  as  the  world  is  beginning  to  realize  it, 
is  simply  the  right  of  a  steward  to  discharge  his 
trust  without  interference. 

Intelligent  people  of  today  may  not  set  them- 
slves  upon  a  lofty  pedestal  and  look  down  in  scorn 
upon  those  below  them  in  the  scale  of  evolution. 
It  is  now  conceded  that  a  weak  heart,  or  a  weak 
mind,  needs  a  strong  heart  and  a  strong  mind,  en- 
couragement, advice  and  knowledge.  The  insane 
asylums  of  tomorrow  will  all  be  sanitariums,  where 
the  normal  mental  equilibrium  will  be  restored ; 
and  the  prisons  of  the  future  will  be  schools,  great 
vocational  centers  if  you  will,  where  virtue,  hon- 
or, mercy  and  self-control  will  unconsciously  be 
ingrafted  upon  the  minds  and  hearts  of  all. 

A  cheerful  place  to  work  in,  a  clean  place  to 
live  in,  and  hours  of  recreation  and  rest  may  not 
be  withheld  from  the  laboring  class  of  today,  and 
inasmuch  as  we  fail  in  our  duty  to  our  fellow- 
beings,  in-so-far  do  we  fail  to  realize  our  own 
divinity. 

ANNIE  M.  L.  DEBOER. 


"7  shall  be  satisfied  when  I  awake  in  thy  like- 
ness"— Psalm  xvii-15. 

Not  here,  not  here,  where  the  sparkling  waters 

Change  to  mocking  sands  as  I  draw  near; 
Not  here,  not  here,  where  my  imperfections 

In  the  beautiy  of  all  that  I  love  appear, 
But  when  I  awake  in  thy  likeness 

Then  I  shall  be  satisfied ; 
Ah,  when  I  awake  in  thy  likeness 

Then  I  shall  be  glorified. 

—  105  — 


THE  EARTH  AND  THE  FLOWERS 

"Only  the  actions  of  the  just  smell  sweet,  and 
blossom  in  the  dust" 

I  am  the  soil  where  grew  the  flowers 
That  gathered  the  sunshine  and  dew ; 

I  am  the  essence  that  gave  to  beauty, 
The  delight  that  was  given  to  you. 

I  am  the  dust  of  the  earth, 

I  care  not  if  beauty  may  live 
All  that  the  Master  gave  to  me 

I  give  and  I  joyfully  give. 

I    am    the    humble    toiler 

The  seeming  victim  of  fate, 
But  the  destinies  of  nations 

On  my  brain  and  my  brawn  await. 

I  am  the  hand  of  the  artist 
That  fashioned  the  Great  Ideal ; 

I" am  the  brick  and  mortar 
That  the  dreams  of  the  dreamer  reveal. 

I  am  the  eyes  of  the  seeing, 

I  am  the  voice  of  the  song ; 
I  am  the  heart  of  the  lover, 

I  am  the  strength  of  the  strong. 

I  am  the  cells  of  the  living, 

I  am  the  brain  of  the  wise; 
I  am  the  temple  of  spirit, 

I  am  a  god  in  disguise. 

What  matter  if  I  am  forgotten 

If  the  Beautiful  the  True  and  the  Just 

Shall  live  in  fragrance  forever, 
And  blossom  in  my  dust. 


OUT  OF  THE  PAST 

Out  of  the  past  came  the  present, 

Out  of  its  struggle  our  rest, 
Out  of  its  wars  our  freedom — 

Whatever  is,  is  best. 

Out  of  the  past  came  the  present, 

Out  of  its  error,  our  woe  ; 
Out  of  its  virtue,  our  blessing — 

We  reap  whatever  we  sow. 

Out  of  the  present  the  future ; 

O  what  shall  the  future  be? 
We  are  building  today  for  tomorrow, 

And  now  is  eternity. 

-Published  in  the  Progress,  Minneapolis,  Minn. 
—  106  — 


THE  LILIES  OF  THE  FIELD 

"Consider  the  lilies  of  the  field" 

Flowers !  when  the  Saviour's  calm,  benignant  eyes 
Fell  on  your  gentle  beauty ;  when  from  you 
That  heavenly  lesson  for  all  hearts  He  drew, 
Eternal,  universal,  as  the  sky, — 
Then  in  the  bosom  of  your  purity 
A  voice  he  set  as  in  a  temple-shrine, 
That  life's  quick  travelers  ne'er  might  pass  you  by 
Unwarned  of  that  sweet  oracle  divine. 

And  though  too  oft  its  low,  celestial  sound 
By  the  harsh  notes  of  work-day  care  is  drowned, 
And  the  loud  steps  of  vain,  unlistening  haste, 
Yet  the  great  ocean  hath  no  tone  of  power 
Mightier  to  reach  the   soul    in    thought's  hushed 

hour, 

Than  yours,  ye  Lilies ;  chosen  thus  and  graced. 
Felicia  Dorothea  Hemans. 


"Consider  the  lilies  of  the  field,  how  they  grow: 
they  toil  not,  neither  do  they  spin ; 

"And  yet  I  say  unto  you,  that  even  Solomon,  in 
all  his  glory,  was  not  arrayed  like  one  of  these." 

As  the  Great  Teacher  passed  to  and  fro  amid 
the  vine-clad  hills  and  blossoming  valleys  of  Pales- 
tine, intent  upon  his  mission  of  love  to  humanity, 
how  great  must  have  been  his  peace  as  he  drew 
from  the  surrounding  objects  of  Nature  his  mys- 
tical symbolism  of  Truth. 

The  magnificent  temple  of  Solomon  at  Jerusa- 
lem was  the  deepest  expression  of  Jewish  pride. 
Into  the  treasury  of  this  great  temple  the  poor 
widow's  two  mites  were  cast  with  the  offerings  of 
the  rich,  for  the  glory  of  his  reign  yet  thrilled  the 
hearts  of  the  people,  so  that  even  the  Great  Teach- 
er had  been  admonished  to  "see  what  manner  of 
stones  and  what  buildings  are  here."  The  Temple 
pointed  to  Solomon,  and  the  glory  of  the  Jewish 
people,  when  this  king  who  possessed  more  than 
human  wisdom,  occupied  the  throne  of  David.  Yet 
the  Master  points  them  to  the  lily  of  the  field,  and 
says :  "Even  Solomon  in  all  his  glory  was  not 
arrayed  as  one  of  these." 

The  comparison  was  no  random  utterance.  There 
was  deep  significance  in  its  meaning.  It  was  be- 
tween man's  wisdom  and  God's  wisdom ;  between 
human  achievement  and  divine  immensity ;  and 
between  human  restlessness  and  divine  confidence 
and  peace.  This  flower — this  lily  of  Palestine, 
which  abounded  in  the  districts  of  Galilee — was  as 
common  to  the  Jews  as  the  daisy  or  the  dandelion 
is  to  us,  yet  this  flower  cast  all  the  fine  linen  and 
purple  robes  and  elaborately  wrought  ornaments  of 
of  Solomon  into  the  shade,  for  it  had  a  depth  of 
design  and  a  perfection  of  execution  in  its  net- 

—  107  — 


work  of  tendrils  and  fibers  in  the  stalk,  the  leaves, 
the  stamens  and  pistels,  and  in  all  its  mystical 
tints,  that  the  wisdom  of  man  may  not  fully  com- 
prehend. Even  the  great  temple  of  Solomon, 
wrought  of  marble  and  cedarwood  and  inlaid  with 
gold  and  silver  and  precious  stones,  paled  into 
insignificance  in  comparison  with  the  humble  lily. 
Man  cannot  hope  to  "add  one  cubit  to  his  stature" 
nor  one  tint  to  its  bloom.  The  mystical  signifi- 
cance of  its  life  is  something  beyond  the  wisdom 
of  man.  But  for  the  Omnipotent  it  were  as  easy 
to  frame  and  fashion  a  world  as  this  unpretending 
flower  of  the  field ! 

The  family  of  lilies  is  very  large,  and  in  this 
feeble  tribute  to  their  beauty  the  writer  will  not 
attempt  to  mention  all  varieties.  A  few,  only, 
appeal  to  me,  being  more  familiar,  of  more  trans- 
cendent beauty,  or  like  the  lotus  in  particular,  hav- 
ing a  deep  significance  and  an  unrivaled  historical 
value. 

Among  our  native  lilies,  the  wild  yellow  lily,  or 
Canada  lily,  is  especially  beautiful.  Blooming  in 
June  and  July,  the  low  meadows  and  marshy 
places  are  bright  with  its  swaying,  golden  bells, 
and  it  is  thought  by  many  to  be  the  lily  of  Scrip- 
ture, the  only  flower  mentioned  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, by  the  Christ,  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount. 

The  red,  wood,  flame,  or  Philadelphia  lilies,  and 
the  beautiful  Spotted  lilies,  and  Mariposa  lilies 
may  be  members  of  this  branch  of  the  lily  family, 
and  somewhere  on  the  Pacific  coast  grow  sweet 
little  clusters  of  wood  lilies,  as  sweet  as  our  Lilies 
of  the  Valley,  whereunto  we  so  often  liken  our 
Beloved. 

The  acknowledged  queen  of  our  natural  aquatic 
lilies  is  the  sweet-scented  white  water  lily  or  pond 
lily.  This  lily  is  of  the  same  family  as  the  gigantic 
Victoria  Regia  of  Brazil,  and  all  the  other,  rose, 
lavender,  blue  and  golden  exotic  water  lilies  that 
bloom  in  the  fountains  of  our  city  parks.  Its  most 
humble  sister  is  the  yellow  water  lily  to  which 
Longfellow  compared  Hiawatha's  canoe : 

"Floated  on  the  river  like  a  yellow  water  lily." 

Who  that  has  enjoyed  the  castle-building  of 
youth  and  love  can  forget  the  fragrance  of  the 
water  lilies  as  they  drifted  out  among  the  shallows, 
idly  as  the  fleecy  clouds  of  June  *? 

The  water  lily  comes  of  an  ancient  and  white- 
robed  family  of  priests.  Symbols  of  meditation 
and  repose,  they  have  assisted  in  religious  ceremo- 
nies from  the  beginning  of  time.  The  lotus  of 
Egypt,  India,  China,  Japan,  Persia  and  Asiatic 
Russia  is  a  relative  of  our  sweet-scented  water  lily. 

A  Chinese  writer  of  the  eleventh  century  paid 
the  following  beautiful  tribute  to  the  water  lily  : 

"Since  the  opening  of  the  T'ang  dynasty  it  has 
—  108  — 


been    fashionable    to    admire    the    peony,    but    my 
favorite  is  the  water  lily. 

"How  stainless  it  rises  from  its  slimy  bed ;  how 
modestly  it  reposes  on  the  clear  pool — an  emblem 
of  purity  and  truth.  Symmetrically  perfect,  its 
subtle  perfume  is  wafted  far  and  wide.  While 
there  it  rests  in  spotless  state,  something  to  be 
regarded  reverently  from  a  distance,  and  not  to  be 
profaned  by  familiar  approach." 

The  Egyptian  lotus  was  a  sacred  plant,  the  em- 
blem of  the  sacred  Nile.  It  was  held  as  a  symbol 
of  the  creation  of  the  world  from  the  waters.  It 
was  not  only  a  symbol  of  physical  life,  "but 
mainly  a  type  of  the  generating  forces  of  all  Na- 
ture, expressing  "water,  health,  life".  Its  meaning 
was  that  of  endless  revival  and  endless  begetting, 
or  the  continuous  renewing  of  nature.  In  their 
hieroglyphic  representation  of  plant  life,  the  pome- 
granate, the  lotus  and  date  palms  are  always  dis- 
tinguishable. It  was  believed  that  the  pomegranate 
seeds  once  eaten  kept  the  soul  in  another  life  be- 
yond the  reach  of  death.  The  date  palms  and  per- 
simmons sometimes  were  called  lotus.  This  plant 
is  said  by  some  writers  to  be  the  plant  of  the  lotus 
eaters,  a  people  of  the  north  coast  of  Africa  who 
lived  on  the  fruit  of  the  lotus  tree.  Homer  tells 
us  that  they  received  Ulysses  and  his  followers 
hospitably,  but  the  sweetness  of  the  fruit  produced 
such  a  happy  languor  that  they  forgot  their  native 
land,  and  ceased  to  desire  to  return  to  it,  their  sole 
desire  being  to  live  in  delicious,  dreamy  idleness  in 
lotus  land. 

Of  the  lily  lotus,  Herodotus  says : 

"When  the  river  is  full  and  has  made  the  plains 
like  a  sea,  great  numbers  of  lilies,  which  the  Egyp- 
tians call  lotus,  spring  up  in  the  water;  these  they 
gather  and  dry  in  the  sun;  then,  having  pounded 
the  middle  of  the  lotus,  which  resembles  a  poppy, 
they  make  bread  of  it  and  bake  it.  The  root  also 
of  the  lotus  is  fit  for  food,  and  is  tolerably  sweet, 
and  is  round,  and  of  the  size  of  an  apple.  There 
are  also  other  lilies,  like  roses,  that  grow  in  the 
river,  the  other  fruit  of  which  is  contained  in  a 
separate  pod,  that  spring  up  in  form  very  like  a 
wasp's  nest.  In  this  there  are  many  berries  fit  to 
be  eaten,  of  the  size  of  an  olive-stone,  and  they 
are  eaten  both  fresh  and  dried." 

However,  the  lotus  was  not  only  valuable  for  its 
edible  properties.  Its  significance  was  highly  relig- 
ious. The  sacred  bull,  Apis,  was  wreathed  with 
its  garlands,  and  there  were  niches  for  water  to 
place  it  in  tombs.  It  was  offered  to  Osiris  and 
laid  upon  the  bodies  of  the  dead,  as  a  symbol  of 
resurrection,  just  as  our  Lilium  longiflorum  has  a 
similar  meaning  with  us  and  is  used  for  decoration 
at  Easter.  The  Egyptian  sacred  flower  was  always 

—  109  — 


blue  or  white,  and  in  all  their  art  the  lotus  excels 
in  ornament,  having  solar  Or  magic  significance. 
Isis,  the  great  mother,  holds  it,  and  the  god  Nilus 
binds  a  wreath  about  the  brow  of  Memnon. 

From  Egypt  the  symbolism  of  this  sacred  flower 
was  carried  to  Assyria,  having  been  found  in  the 
sculptures  at  Ninevah,  and  to  the  ancient  Chinese 
the  lotus  was  symbolical  and  invested  with  poetic 
meaning,  being  associated  with  Fuh  or  Buddha, 
and  symbolizing  beauty. 

The  Sanscrit  word  for  the  lotus  is  Padua.  The 
learned  Brahmins  called  the  Egyptian  deities 
"Padua  Devi",  or  Lotus  Gods. 

In  the  "Purana"  may  be  found  the  following 
account  of  the  origin  of  Brahma : 

"When  Vishnu  was  about  to  create  the  world  he 
produced  a  lotus  several  thousand  miles  long,  from 
the  unfolded  flower  of  which  proceeded  Brahma. 
He  reflected  with  much  amazement  who  he  was 
and  whence  he  came,  and  at  last  concluded  that  the 
lotus  flower  was  his  author.  He  therefore  trav- 
eled downward  a  hundred  years  in  hope  to  reach 
the  root;  but  seeing  no  end  of  his  journey,  he 
turned  about  and  traveled  upward  another  century 
without  reaching  the  end  of  the  immense  plant.  At 
last  Vishnu  was  seen ;  and  a  quarrel  ensuing,  the 
two  gods  were  going  to  fight  when  Siva  appeared 
and  prevented  the  combat.  Vishnu,  then  in  the 
shape  of  a  boar,  traveled  down  the  lotus  a  thou- 
sand years  until  he  came  to  Fatal,  and  Brahma 
wandered  upward  in  the  shape  of  a  goose,  until  he 
came  to  the  world  above." 

The  color  of  the  flower  in  India  is  white  or  red ; 
the  last  color  was  dyed,  according  to  a  fable,  by 
the  blood  of  Siva,  when  Kamadeva,  or  Cupid, 
wounded  him  with  the  fatal  arrow  of  love. 

Of  the  Hindoo  Venus,  Sri,  or  Lakshmi,  it  is  said : 

"Seated  on  a  full-blown  lotus  and  holding  a 
lotus  in  her  hand,  the  goddess  Sri,  radiant  with 
beauty,  rose  from  the  waves." 

And  when  the  virtuous  Prahlada  was  burned  at 
the  stake,  he  cried  to  his  cruel  father: 

"The  fire  burneth  me  not,  and  all  around  me  I 
behold  the  face  of  the  sky,  cool  and  fragrant  with 
beds  of  lotus  flowers."  Thus  the  lotus  is  as 
favorite  a  subject' with  the  Hindu  poets  as  the  rose 
is  with  the  Persians.  The  moon  is  often  called  the 
lover  or  lord  of  the  lotuses.  Thus  Kalidisa  makes 
reference : 
"While  the  round  moon  withdraws  his  looming 

disc 

Beneath  the  western  sky,  the  full-blown  flower 
Of  the  night-loving  lotus  sheds  her  leaves 
In  sorrow  for  her  loss,  bequeathing  naught 
But  the  sweet  memory  of  her  loveliness 
To  my  bereaved  sight." 
—  110  — 


The  story  of  the  transformation  of  Krishna  is 
beautiful  with  lotus  flowers,  and  such  beautiful 
symbolism  as  this  is  used : 

"The  clear  sky  was  bright  with  the  autumnal 
moon,  and  the  air  fragrant  with  the  perfume  of  the 
wild  water  lily,  in  whose  buds  the  clustering  bees 
were  murmuring  their  song." 

In  the  book  "Lotus  Time  in  Japan"  we  read : 
"Sadly  at  variance  with  the  grand  teachings  of 
Buddhism  are  many  of  the  superstitions  and  prac- 
tices which  now  dim  'The  Light  of  Asia',  but  just 
as  the  lotus  flower  rises  from  the  slime  in  purity 
and  beauty,  so  do  the  great  pure  thoughts  of  Bud- 
dha stand  forth  from  the  mists  of  superstition  in 
which  the  cult  has  long  been  shrouded" ;  and  a 
Japanese  schoolboy  in  an  English  composition 
writes  : 

"Though  growing  in  the  foulest  slime  the  flower 
remains  pure  and  undefiled,  and  the  soul  of  him 
who  remains  ever  pure  in  the  midst  of  temptation 
is  likened  unto  the  lotus.  Therefore  it  is  the  lotus 
carved  or  painted  upon  the  furniture  of  temples; 
therefore  also  does  it  appear  in  all  representations 
of  our  Lord  Buddha." 


IF  WE  LISTEN  TO  THE  MUSIC 

If  we  listen  to  the  music 

As  we  journey  day  by  day, 
Joy  will  take  the  place  of  sadness 

And  our  cares  will  fade  away. 
Peace  will  spread  her  snowy  pinions 

Over  all  earth's  warring  strife ; 
Love  will  lighten  the  path  of  duty 

Making  one  sweet  song  of  life. 


TO-DAY 
By  Carlyle 

Lo,  here  hath  been  dawning 
Another   blue    day ; 
Think,  wilt  thou  let  it 
Slip  useless  away. 

Out  of  Eternity 

This  new  day  is  born; 

Into  eternity, 

At  night,  will  return. 

Behold  it  aforetime 
No  eye  ever  did ; 
So  soon  it  forever 
From  all  eyes  is  nid. 

—  Ill  — 


"THE  STORY  OF  A  SMILE  AND  A  ROSE" 

A  Study  in  Reincarnation. 

It  is  the  time  of  Nero,  and  the  persecution  and 
martyrdom  of  the  Christians  at  Rome.  A  beautiful 
maiden  has  been  condemned  to  the  arena,  there 
to  become  food  for  the  tigers.  At  the  last  moment, 
a  young  nobleman,  feeling  his  heart  moved  with 
pity  for  one  so  fair,  takes  from  his  robe  the  rose 
he  wears  and  throws  it  at  her  feet.  Forgetting 
that  she  stands  in  the  presence  of  death,  she  looks 
up  to  meet  the  smile  of  the  donor. 

The  haughty  ladies  of  his  party  cast  upon  him 
looks  of  scorn. 

When  the  spectacle  is  over  he  is  summoned  into 
the  presence  of  the  emperor  and  his  soldiers,  where 
he,  too,  is  condemned  to  death  and  led  away  in 
chains. 

*  *     * 

It  is  France  of  the  Age  of  Chivalry.  A  woman 
riding  alone  through  a  deep  forest  is  accosted 
by  a  gay  young  cavalier,  who  grasps  the  bridle 
rein  of  her  horse — and  stares  boldly  into  her 
face.  Another  horseman — a  knight — dashes  up — 
lashes  him  with  his  whip — thus  leaving  him  smart- 
ing with  pain.  They  gallop  away  together  through 
the  shadows. 

*  *     # 

Before  a  richly  carved  window  in  a  castle  tower 
looking  down  upon  a  broad  terrace  green  with 
closely-shaven  turf,  and  gay  with  the  many  col- 
ored blooms  of  flowers,  a  handsome  Frenchman 
stands  with  his  plumed  cap  in  his  hand,  watching 
the  window  with  an  eager  passionate  look.  After 
a  little  while  he  stoops  and  picks  a  flower,  presses 
it  to  his  lips,  then  fastens  it  in  the  brooch  of  his 
velvet  cap  and  walks  away. 

The  scene  has  again  changed.  A  broad  field  is 
crowded  with  people  dressed  in  quaint,  antiquated 
costumes,  except  where  a  space  in  the  centre  is 
boarded  off  with  a  low  but  strong  partition.  There 
are  men  in  trunk-hose  and  slashed  doublets,  and 
women  in  short  petticoats  tight,  square-cut  bod- 
dices,  and  strange  head-gear,  all  pressing  to  the 
barrier,  which  is  guarded  by  stout  fellows  in  steel 
caps  and  leathern  jerkins,  armed  with  double- 
headed  axes  and  broad,  short-bladed  daggers. 
Near  the  center  of  the  lists  is  a  high  wooden  plat- 
form filled  with  ladies  in  gay  attire,  and  at  one 
end  is  a  large  tent  before  which  a  spear  is^planted 
bearing  a  fluttering  silken  pennon.  Just  in  front 
of  this,  pawing  the  ground  impatiently,  stands  a 
horse  with  spiked  frontlet  and  flowing  caparison, 
on  which  sat  a  knight  in  full  armor,  a  blue  silken 
scarf  bound  to  his  helmet  his  small,  triangular 
shield  hung  round  his  neck,  his  visor  closed,  and 
his  long  lance  resting  on  the  point  of  his  steel- 

—  112  — 


shod  foot.  At  the  opposite  end  the  barrier  opens 
and  another  knight  rides  in  and  takes  his  place. 
He,,  too,  is  armed  in  plate  but  his  casque  displays 
no  plume  or  colors  save  a  little  faded  red  flower. 
There  is  a  stir  among  the  crowd,  and  a  sudden 
pressing  toward  the  barrier.  The  lances  fall  into 
rest;  the  glittering  helmets  bow  toward  the 
chargers'  crests;  the  dust  rises  in  clouds  as  the 
horses  rush  together  and  meet  with  a  shock  in  the 
middle  of  the  lists ;  the  lances  bend  and  fly  into 
fifty  shivers,  and  the  blue  scarf  goes  down  be- 
neath the  hoofs  of  the  fallen,  steed.  A  shield  is 
laid  upon  the  truncheons  of  four  spears,  the 
wounded  knight  is  borne  off  to  his  tent,  while  he 
of  the  flower  rides  proudly  toward  the  stand, 
where  he  halts  and  bows  to  the  saddlepeak. 

A  lady  steps  forward.  He  tenders  to  her  the 
faded  flower,  then  swoons  in  the  arms  of  his 
attendants,  and  he  too,  is  bourne  away  on  their 
shields. 

********* 

It  is  nineteenth  century. 

Place — a  modern  American  city. 

The  opera  is  over  and  a  beautiful,  richly  gowned 
woman,  accompanied  by  an  elderly  man,  her  father, 
are  about  to  enter  their  car  to  be  taken  to  their 
home.  The  driver  has  opened  the  door  and  stanas 
waiting  for  them  to  enter,  when,  attracted  by 
loud  talking  and  laughter,  they  turn  to  find  the 
cause  of  merriment. 

A  young  musician  who  has  been  wont  to  fre- 
quent the  opera  is  now  evidently  the  worse  for 
liquor.  His  clothes  are  spattered  with  mud  and 
his  high  silk  hat  is  battered  and  torn  as  though 
he  had  been  picked  up  out  of  the  gutter.  Some 
young  bloods  are  having  a  great  deal  of  fun  at 
his  expense. 

Moved  with  compassion  for  the  weak,  or  prompt- 
ed by  her  soul  in  memory  of  the  great  debt  she 
owes  him  from  the  past,  she  takes  from  her  bosom 
the  rose  she  wears  and,  with  a  word  of  explanation 
to  her  father,  advances  toward  the  cause  of  ridi- 
cule and,  smiling  sweetly,  bestows  upon  him  the 
rose. 

As  much  astonished  as  though  an  angel  from 
heaven  had  appeared  before  him,  he  accepts  the 
rose  with  a  low  bow,  taking  from  his  head  the 
battered  hat,  and  murmuring  a  word  of  thanks. 

For  a  while  after  she  has  disappeared  into  the 
waiting  car  he  stands  as  though  dazed  or  stunned 
by  the  apparition,  his  tormentors  having  accepted 
their  rebuke  and  having  left  him  alone;  then 
placing  on  his  head  the  battered  hat,  throwing  back 
his  shoulders,  stepping  lightly  and  briskly,  he 
walks  away  into  the  night,  his  soul  having  found 
an  ideal  that  shall  lead  to  his  reformation. 


—  113  — 


It  is  now  the  triumph  hour  of  the  musician. 
After  years  of  study  abroad  he  has  returned  to  his 
native  city.  He  bows  before  a  vast  audience  that 
he  has  held  spellbound  and  enraptured  by  the 
sweet  strains  he  has  evoked  from  his  beloved  vio- 
lin. Bouquets  of  flowers  fall  at  his  feet.  Select- 
ing from  them  all  a  beautiful  full-blow  rose,  he 
touches  it  reverently  with  his  lips  and  then  tosses 
it  lightly  into  the  lap  of  a  beautiful  woman,  who 
in  company  with  her  friends  occupies  a  box  not 
far  from  the  stage.  Blushing  deeply,  she  appar- 
ently fails  to  comprehend  the  meaning,  then, 
clearly  from  out  the  past  comes  the  memory  of  the 
martyrdom  at  Rome.  She  sees  the  vast  arena  ana 
the  assembled  multitude,  hears  the  blood-thirsty 
cheers  as  the  tigers  emerge  from  the  cells  with 
dilating  nostrils  and  stealthy  tread,  in  scent  of 
their  prey;  then  as  she  commends  her  soul  unto 
God  and  realizes  again  that  supreme  exaltation  of 
soul  and  indifference  to  her  fate,  there  falls  at 
her  feet  a  rose,  and  she  meets  the  smile  of  the 
donor. 

Only  once  before  had  this  memory  dimly  occur- 
red to  her — and  that  at  the  time  when  she  had  been 
impelled  to  bestow  the  rose  that  night  after  the 
opera. 

Now  in  this  idol  of  the  hour,  who  comes  as  a 
conquering  hero  from  the  salons  of  the  royal  pal- 
aces of  Europe,  she  recognizes  the  soul  that  has 
been  so  closely  linked  to  her  own  throughout  the 
past,  and  thus  begins  or  ends  one  of  the  sweetest 
romances^  of  all  history. 


CHILDHOOD'S  HOUR 

There  was  one  shrine  at  which  I  knelt 

In  childhood's  hour; 
Fond  memory  lingers  still,  and 

Thought  has  power 
To  take  me  back.    In  fancy  free 
I  kneel  again  at  mother's  knee. 

Hers  was  the  truest  friendship  life  can  know 
No  other  will  so  brightly  grow, 

Undimmed  by  tears 

In  after  years. 

She  was  the  one  who  oft  caressed 
Or  held  in  slumber  on  her  bre-ast 

One  tired  of  play 

At  close  of  day. 

The  years  have  quickly  passed  since  then, 
And  I  will  never  know  again 

Such  slumber  deep 

Until  I  sleep 

Where  I  can  never  wake  to  weep 
On  earth  again. 


THE  POETRY  OF  THE  STARS 

"When  I  consider  thy  heavens  the  work  of  thy 
fingers,  the  moon  and  the  stars  that  thou  hast  or- 
dained, what  is  man,  that  thou  art  mindful  of  him? 
or  the  son  of  man,  that  thou  visitest  him?" 

The  practical  uses  of  astronomy  are  of  inestima- 
ble value,  relating  as  they  do  to  times,  seasons, 
and  chronology,  but  the  study  of  the  heavens  is  of 
far  greater  value,  because  it  has  opened  up  our 
minds  and  hearts  to  a  conception  of  Infinitude. 
The  man  who  looks  up  to  the  stars  and  who  says 
within  his  soul,  "There  are  greater  worlds  than 
ours"  is  as  wise  as  the  wisest  of  astronomers.  He 
may  not  understand  the  scientific  phraseology  of 
astronomy,  be  able  to  calculate  an  eclipse,  the 
effects  of  planetary  attraction,  or  know  the  prin- 
ciples of  spectrum  analyses,  but  he  has  grasped  the 
one  fact,  the  one  truth  which  lies  at  the  heart  of 
our  knowledge  of  the  universe. 

In  worship  of  the  stars,  primitive  man  took  the 
first  step  forward  in  soul  evolution.  To  the  prim- 
eval man  everything  in  nature  is  godlike  or  God. 
In  the  old  Norse  Mythology,  Baldar,  the  White 
God,  is  the  sun — most  wonderful  of  all  created 
things — and  are  we  not  all  worshipers  of  the  sun — 
lovers  of  the  sun  for  his  beneficent  influence  upon 
the  earth? — healing  the  sick,  dispelling  the  shad- 
ows, inspiring  the  birds,  coloring  the  flowers,  ripen- 
ing the  fruits  and  fields  of  waving  grain,  and  fill- 
ing all  life  with  his  rejuvenating  and  cleansing 
power. 

The  influence  of  the  sun  upon  the-  earth  is  so 
great  that  it  really  becomes  a  part  of  the  things 
that  grow  out  of  the  earth.  All  vegetable  sub- 
stance, all  flesh  and  bone  are  really  composed  of 
solar  properties.  No  wonder  astrologers  hold  that 
an  ethereal  fluid  emanates  from  the  stars,  control- 
ling mind  and  emotion,  and  shaping  the  destiny  of 
the  soul. 

In  mythological  symbolism  the  Earth  is  repre- 
sented as  the  Sorrowing  One,  and  the  sun  as  the 
Father  and  Saviour  of  all.  "The  earth  was  rent 
with  storm  and  earthquake — she  was  the  Mother 
and  hers  the  travail  of  all  birth.  In  sorrow  she 
forever  gathered  to  herself  her  fate  conquered 
children ;  her  sorrowful  countenance  she  veiled  in 
thick  mists,  and  year  after  year  shrouded  herself 
in  wintry  desolation,  while  he,  the  Sun,  was  the 
Eternal  Father,  the  Revealer  of  all  Things.  He 
drove  away  the  darkness,  and  as  out  of  darkness  he 
called  into  birth  the  flowers  and  the  numberless 
forests,  even  as  he  himself  was  every  morning 
born  anew  out  of  darkness,  so  he  called  the  chil- 
dred  of  the  earth  to  a  glorious  rising  in  His  light. 
Under  these  symbols  the  sun  and  the  earth  have 
been  worshiped  by  an  overwhelming  majority  of 

—  115  — 


the  human  race,  having  their  representatives  in 
every  system  of  faith. 

The  poetical  Greeks  peopled  the  starry  spaces 
with  their  gods — half  human,  half  divine.  Thus 
Jove  was  the  power  of  the  heavens  (which  ^of 
course  centered  in  the  sun)  ;  Apollo  was  only  an- 
other name  for  the  sun ;  Aesculapius  represents  his 
healing  virtues;  Hercules  his  saving  strength,  and 
Prometheus,  who  gave  fire  to  men,  as  Vulcan  the 
God  of  fire,  was  probably  connected  with  the  wor- 
ship of  the  sun.  Some  of  the  goddesses,  such  as 
Juno,  wife  of  Jove,  and  Diana,  who  was  only  the 
reflection  of  Apollo,  as  is  the  moon  of  the  sun, 
were  also  in  the  same  category.  The  representa- 
tions of  the  Earth,  the  Sorrowing  One,  on "  the 
other  hand,  were  such  as  the  ancient  Rhe, ;  Latonia 
with  her  dark  and  starry  veil ;  Tethys,  the  world 
nurse,  and  the  Artemis  of  the  East,  or  Syrian 
Mother. 

Plato,  the  philosopher  whose  writings  remain  as 
a  text  book  of  all  philosophy,  in  his  Phaedrus 
speaks  thus  of  the  "Chariot  of  the  Soul",  symbol- 
ized by  the  sun: 

"Our  soul,  which  has  a  triple  nature,  is  as  a 
charioteer  riding  in  a  chariot  drawn  by  two  winged 
steeds,  one  of  a  mortal  and  the  other  of  an  im- 
mortal nature.  Their  wings  are  the  divine  element 
which,  if  it  be  perfect  and  fully  nourished  on  the 
pastures  of  truth,  lifts  the  soul  heavenward  to  the 
dwelling  of  the  gods.  There,  on  a  certain  day, 
gods  and  demigods  ascend  the  heaven  of  heavens, 
Zeus  leading  the  way  in  a  winged  chariot,  to  hold 
high  festival,  and  all  who  can  may  follow.  The 

fods  and  the  immortal  souls  whose  steeds  have 
ull-grown  wings,  are  carried  by  a  revolution  of 
the  spheres  into  a  celestial  world  beyond,  where  all 
space  is  filled  by  a  sea  of  intangible  essence,  which 
the  mind,  'lord  of  the  soul,"  alone  can  contem- 
plate ;  and  here  are  the  absolute  ideas  of  Truth, 
Beauty,  and  Justice.  And  in  these  divine  pastures 
of  pure  knowledge  the  soul  feeds  during  the  time 
th'at  the  spheres  revolve,  and  rests  in  perfect  hap- 
piness, and  then  returns  to  the  heavens  whence  it. 
came,  where  the  steeds  feast  in  their  stalls  on  nec- 
tar and  ambrosia. 

"But  only  to  a  few  souls  out  of  many  is  it 
granted  to  see  these  celestial  visions.  The  rest 
are  carried  into  the  gulfs  of  space  by  the  plunging 
of  the  unruly  steeds,  or  are  lamed  by  unskillful 
driving;  and  often  the  wings  droop  or  are  broken, 
and  the  soul  fails  to  see  the  light  and  sinks  to 
earth  beneath  a  load  of  forgetfulness  and  vice. 
And  then  she  takes  the  form  of  a  man,  and  becomes 
a  mortal  creature ;  and  according  to  the  degree  in 
which  she  has  attained  the  celestial  truth,  she  is 
implanted  in  one  of  the  nine  classes — the  highest 

— 116  — 


being  that  of  the  philosophers,  artists,  poets,  or 
lovers,  and  the  lowest  stage  of  all,  the  tyrant. 

"But  from  the  souls  of  those  who  have  once 
gazed  on  celestial  beauty  the  remembrance  can 
never  be  effaced.  Like  some  divine  inspiration,  the 
glories  of  this  other  world  possess  and  haunt  them ; 
and  it  is  because  their  souls  are  ever  struggling 
upward,  and  fluttering  like  a  bird  that  longs  to 
soar  heavenward,  and.  because  they  are  wrapt  in 
contemplation,  and  careless  of  earthly  matters, 
that  the  world  calls  the  philosopher,  the  artist,  the 
lover  and  the  poet  'mad'. 

"And  thus  the  sight  of  any  earthly  beauty,  in 
face  or  form,  thrills  the  genuine  lover  with  unut- 
terable awe  and  amazement,  because  it  recalls  the 
memory  of  the  celestial  beauty  seen  by  him  once 
in  the  sphere  of  celestial  being.  The  divine  wings 
of  his  soul  are  warmed  and  glow  with  desire  and 
he  lives  in  a  sort  of  ecstacy,  and  shudders  'with 
misgivings  of  a  former  world'." 

Such  was  the  beautiful  conception  of  a  pagan 
mind.  #  *  * 

IMMENSITY    OF    THE    UNIVERSE 

Aristotle,  taught  that  the  earth  was  the  center 
of  the  moon  and  the  stars,  and  not  until  after 
the  lapse  of  hundreds  of  centuries  came  Copernicus 
proclaiming  the  universe  as  extending  far  beyond 
the  limits  of  finite  minds.  Everything  trembled 
and  crumbled  into  ruin  when  the  mind  of  man 
tried  to  grasp  some  comprehension  of  innumer- 
able worlds  and  illimitable  space.  That  there  are 
no  bounds,  no  limits  to  the  universe  of  God — 
that  wherever  we  go  we  may  go  further  still  was 
not  accepted  by  science  or  religion.  Ancient  philoso- 
phers could  not  conceive  that  God  would  waste 
time  by  allowing  the  great  distances  between  the 
planets,  and  religion  could  not  conceive  of  God  as 
being  the  God  of  other  worlds  than  ours.  That 
there  is  one  'Life,  one  Consciousness,  one  Intelli- 
gence, controlling  and  permeating  all,  was  beyond 
the  comprehension  of  minds  that  were  unwilling  to 
think  of  themselves  and  their  little  world  as  being 
other  than  the  center  of  the  universe.  Not  until 
the  nineteenth  century  did  the  most  skillful  astron- 
omers find  the  vast  difference  in  position  of  the 
sun  and  stars.  The  mind  of  man  has  been  slowly 
expanding  to  grasp  some  idea  of  the  universe.  We 
learn  that  in  a  single  second  light  traverses  a  space 
equal  to  eight  times  the  circumference  of  the 
earth ;  from  the  moon,  light  takes  little  more  than 
a  second  and  a  quarter  in  reaching  us ;  from  the 
sun,  eight  minutes ;  about  thirty-five  or  forty  min- 
utes in  reaching  us  from  Jupiter ;  about  an  hour 
and  twenty  minutes  in  traveling  the  distance  from 
Saturn;  from  beyond  the  limits  of  our  solar  sys- 
tem, from  the  nearest  of  the  stars,  it  is  said  that 

— 117  — 


light  takes  three  years  in  traveling  to  the  earth ; 
from  the  myriad  of  stars,  only  just  visible  with 
the  aid  of  the  most  powerful  telescope,  light  only 
reaches  the  earth  after  thousands  of  years,  and  as 
the  universe  is  limitless  there  must  be  stars  so  far 
away  that  it  takes  millions  of  years  for  their  light 
to  reach  us,  and  as  Richard  Proctor  has  written : 
"The  eternal  galaxies,  which  are  perhaps  ever 
hidden  from  the  eye  of  man,  could  their  light  ever 
reach  us  at  all,  would  reveal  them  as  they  were, 
ages  on  ages  before  man  appeared  on  the  earth." 

The  number  of  stars  visible  with  the  aid  of  the 
most  powerful  telescopes  has  been  carried  up  into 
the  millions,  and  as  every  one  of  these  stars  is  a 
sun  with  planets  circling  around  it,  may  not  other 
planets  be  inhabited,  or  is  our  little  earth  the  only 
one  favored  as  the  habitation  of  immortal  souls  ? 
Is  it  not  reasonable  to  conclude  that  as  the  soul  of 
man  journeys  onward  he  inhabits  the  planets  best 
suited  to  his  individual  development  and  evolu- 
tion? And  why  should  there  not  be  a  finer  uni- 
verse, interpenetrating  this  material  universe — a 
fit  home  for  more  highly  evolved  souls'?  Science 
has  discovered  that  what  was  once  thought  to  be 
empty  space  is  intensely  alive,  and  as  Sir  Oliver 
Lodge  asserts :  "Any  ordinary  mass  of  matter  con- 
sists, like  the  cosmos,  of  separated  particles,  with 
great  intervening  distances  in  proportion  to  their 
size."  The  "great  intervening  distances"  consist  of 
the  unmodified  ether,  the  subtle  matter,  the  finer 
matter  of  which  the  unseen  worlds  are  made,  and 
to  be  conscious  of  the  finer  universe  that  interpene- 
trates this  material  universe,  we  would  need  finer 
senses.  Only  supersensitive  souls  may  receive 
messages,  however  incomplete  from  these  higher 
realms. 

As  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe  has  so  beautifully 
said : 

"It  lies  around  us  like  a  cloud — 

A  world  we  do  not  see ; 
Yet  the  sweet  closing  of  an  eye 

May  bring  us  there  to  be." 

"Theosophy  teaches  that  the  spirit  matter  of  uni- 
verse is  divided  into  seven  distinct  grades,  each 
with  its  own  atomic  level,  and  each  with  a  fixed 
rate  of  vibration.  Each  grade  is  divided  into  seven 
sub-grades  or  types,  as  physical  matter,  emotional 
matter,  mental  matter,  intuitional  matter,  and  three 
higher  grades  of  spiritual  matter.  In  scientific 
phraseology  these  seven  subgrades  would  be  termed 
as  solid,  liquid,  gaseous,  etheric,  super-etheric,  sub- 
atomic and  atomic.  All  these  grades  interpene- 
trate, but  do  not  mingle ;  all  exist  in  the  human 
body,  but  the  higher  states  or  realms  of  being  are 
latent  until  the  ego  or  soul  has  gained  control  over 
the  lower  planes.  Thus  occultism  explains  the  soul 
complexity  of  the  universe  of  God,  and  interpene- 

—  118  — 


trating  planes  of  being.  Before  man  can  function 
on  higher  planes  of  being  than  the  material  or 
physical,  he  must  build  sense  organs  that  will 
vibrate  to  their  own  kinds  of  matter.  In  the  ordi- 
nary process  of  evolution  this  takes  many  success- 
ive incarnations,  but  the  knowledge  of  the  higher 
law  that  has  come  to  us  through  the  lives  of  the 
Masters  of  Wisdom  enables  deeply  earnest  and 
compassionate  souls  to  develop  and  use  super-sense 
organs  for  the  advancement  and  blessing  of  human- 
ity. Jesus  possessed  in  the  highest  degree  the  intu- 
itional and  spiritual  powers,  hence  he  became  the 
Healer  and  Saviour  of  all  humanity." 
*  *  # 

SUPERSTITIONS    RELATING    TO    STARS 

The  world  has  ever  been  ready  to  attribute  to 
supernatural  causes  all  unexplained  phenomena  of 
the  heavens.  In  olden  times  blazing  stars  or  comets 
foretold  great  events.  The  reader  of  Josephus  is 
told  that  a  comet  shaped  and  glittering  like  a 
sword,  without  any  rays  or  beams,  was  seen  to 
hover  over  Jerusalem  for  nearly  a  year  before  it 
fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Romans.  A  comet  hav- 
ing the  resemblance  of  a  horn  was  seen  during  the 
battle  of  Salamis.  The  wars  of  Caesar  and  Pom- 
pey,  the  murder  of  Claudius,  and  the  tyranny  of 
Nero,  were  all  prefigured  by  comets,  but  they  were 
not  always  regarded  as  the  portents  of  evil  omen, 
for  the  birth  and  accession  of  Alexander,  of  Mith- 
ridates,  the  accession  of  Charlemagne,  and  the 
commencement  of  the  Tartar  empire,  were  all  an- 
nounced by  blazing  stars.  After  the  murder  of 
Julius  Caesar  a  brilliant  comet  which  illumined  the 
Italian  sky  for  seven  nights  was  supposed  to  indi- 
cate his  apothesis  or  the  passing  of  his  soul  to 
the  regions  of  the  gods.  One  old  writer  declares 
that  comets  "signify  corruption  of  the  aire.  They 
are  signs  "of  earthquake,  of-  warres,  changing  of 
kingdoms,  great  dearth  of  corn,  yea,  a  common 
death  of  man  and  beast." 

The  Star  of  Bethlehem,  announcing  the  birth  of 
the  Infant  Redeemer,  appeared  to  ignorant  shep- 
herds, who  watched  their  flocks  at  night  under  the 
blue  sky  of  Syria.  It  is  a  great  thing  even  today 
to  feel  the  spiritual  influences  that  come  to  us  from 
the  celestial  worlds.  There  are  many  supersensi- 
tive  people  who  by  their  gift  of  intuition  have 
power  to  read  the  very  soul  of  life  and  make  pre- 
dictions which  confuse  our  reasoning  powers. 

We  are  told  in  the  Scriptures  that  one  star  dif- 
fereth  from  another  in  glory,  and  in  a  strange  old 
book  called  the  "Syntagma"  the  author  says  of  the 
stars  that  they  shine  "more  like  torches  burning 
with  eternal  flame  before  the  altar  of  the  Most 
High,  than  the  lamps  of  the  eternal  vault  or  the 
funereal  lights  of  the  setting  sun" ;  and  he  tells  of 
the  various  colors  seen  among  the  stars,  arguing 

—  119  — 


that  the  stars  show  by  their  colors  to  which  plan- 
etary party  they  belong:  The  followers  of  Saturn 
have  a  dull  leaden  aspect ;  the  Jovial  stars  shine 
brilliantly  white ;  the  Martian  stars,  with  fierce  red 
rays.  Those  stars  which  have  an  orange  light  are 
followers  of  the  sun,  while  those  which  are  faint 
and  pale  belong  to  the  moon.  Lastly,  those  stars 
which  obey  the  planet  of  Love  shine  with  a  yel- 
lowish light. 

The  colors  which  are  noticed  in  the  stars  give 
only  the  faintest  notion  of  the  real  splendor  in 
which  they  shine.  If  we  could  behold  the  galaxy 
of  suns  from  above  the  limits  of  our  atmosphere, 
as  one  writer  has  said,  "We  should  see  Arcturus, 
and  Aldebaran,  Pollux,  Antares,  and  Betelgeux 
blazing  like  sunlit  rubies  among  their  fainter  neigh- 
bors, the  glorious  yellow  of  Capella  and  Procyon 
would  surpass  the  most  splendid  yellow  or  topaz 
colors  known  to  our  artists,  while  the  brilliant 
white  hues  of  Vega  and  Altair,  and  the  blazing 
Sirius  would  be  no  less  beautiful  and  striking.  But 
even  such  a  scene  as  this,  brilliant  as  it  wcwld 
appear,  would  be  as  nothing,  compared  to  the 
splendor  which  would  come  into  view  if  the  powers 
of  the  observer's  vision  could  be  gradually  in- 
creased until  the  stars  which  are  now  detected  only 
by  the  piercing  eye  of  the  telescope  were  seen  in 
all  the  richness  and  variety  of  their  colors.  It  is 
among  the  stars  which  are  invisible  to  the  unaided 
eye  that  the  real  splendor  of  celestial  colors  are  to 
be  found.  No  words  can  .describe  the  beauty  of 
the  celestial  coloring  which  the  observer  would 
behold.  We  see  in  the  nocturnal  skies  no  traces  of 
those  green  and  violet,  and  blue  and  purple  suns, 
which  are  really  pouring  forth  their  richly  tinted 
rays  on  other  worlds  and  other  scenes." 

We  have  learned  to  love  the  flowers  of  the 
earth ;  may  we  not  more  intimately  know  the 
"flowers  of  the  sky"  ? 

The  Japanese  have  poetically  termed  the  Milky 
Way  the  "Silver  River  of  Heaven",  and  to  the 
imaginative  mind  it  represents  a  shining  pathway 
through  the  skies.  In  olden  times  people  had 
strange  ideas  about  this  strange  group  of_stars.  It 
was  called  the  Pathway  of  Spirits,  and  a  beautiful 
French  legend  relates  that  the  stars  are  torches 
held  by  angel  spirits  to  guide  us  to  Heaven.  In 
reality  the  Milky  Way  consists  of  myriads  of  what 
appear  to  us  but  small  stars  (but  which  are  in 
reality  suns)  interwoven  with  masses  of  cloudy 
lieht. 

As  Mary  Proctor  has  so  beautifully  said : 

"Come,  let  us  speed  on  the  wings  of  thought 
across  the  depths  of  space,  which  extend  between 
us  and  that  distant  shore,  and  wander  for  awhile 
by  the  Silver  River  of  Heaven.  In  a  moment  we 
are  beside  that  mighty  stream,  dazzled  by  a  blaze 

— 120  — 


of  glory  from  myriad  suns.  Floating  on  the  sur- 
face of  this  fathomless  river,  we  see  sun  and  sys- 
tem, cluster  and  universe,  all  majestically  moving 
onward  in  their  orbits,  their  movements  being  in 
perfect  harmony.  The  music  of  the  spheres  that 
are  swayed  and  held  in  bondage  by  our  own  sun  is 
echoed  by  that  of  ten  million  moving  suns,  singing 
their  solemn  chant — the  grandest  of  epics — the 
Poem  of  the  Universe,  as  they  wing  their  flight 
through  infinite  space." 

"What  wonder  that  the  overwrought  soul  should 

reel 

With  its  own  weight  of  thought,  and  the  wild  e>i 
See  fate  within  those  tracks  of  glory  lie." 

Richter  says  that  "an  angel  once  took  a  man  and 
stripped  him  of  his  flesh,  and  lifted  him  up  into 
space  to  show  him  the  glory  of  the  universe.  When 
the  flesh  was  taken  away  the  man  ceased  to  be 
cowardly,  and  was  ready  to  fly  with  the  angel  past 
galaxy  after  galaxy,  and  infinity  after  infinity,  and 
so  man  and  angel  passed  on,  viewing  the  universe, 
until  the  sun  was  out  of  sight — until  our  solar  sys- 
tem appeared  as  a  speck  of  light  against  the  black 
empyrean,  and  there  was  only  darkness.  And  they 
looked  onward,  and  in  the  infinities  of  light  before, 
a  speck  of  light  appeared,  and  suddenly  they  were 
in  the  midst  of  rushing  worlds.  But  they  passed 
beyond  that  system,  and  beyond  system  after  sys- 
tem, and  infinity  after  infinity,  until  the  human 
heart  sank,  and  the  man  cried  out:  'End  is  there 
none  of  the  universe  of  God  *?'  The  angel  strength- 
ened the  man  by  words  of  counsel  and  courage,  and 
they  flew  on  again  until  worlds  left  behind  them 
were  out  of  sight,  and  specks  of  light  in  advance 
were  transformed,  as  they  approached  them,  into 
rushing  systems ;  they  moved  over  architraves  of 
eternities,  over  pillars  of  immensities,  over  archi- 
tecture of  galaxies,  unspeakable  in  dimensions  and 
duration,  and  the  human  heart  sank  again  and 
called  out:  'End  is  there  none  of  the  universe  of 
God*?'  And  all  the  stars  echoed  the  question  with 
amazement :  'End  is  there  none  of  the  universe  of 
God  *?'  And  this  echo  found  no  answer.  They 
moved  on  again  past  immensities  of  immensities, 
and  eternities  of  eternities,  until  in  the  dizziness  of 
uncounted  galaxies  the  human  heart  sank  for  the 
last  time,  and  called  out :  'End  is  there  none  of 
the  universe  of  God  ?'  And  again  all  the  stars  re- 
peated the  question,  and  the  angel  answered :  'End 
is  there  none  of  the  universe  of  God.  Lo,  also, 
there  is  no  beginning.'  " 

In  the  material  universe  there  is  one  law  upon 
which  hang  all  the  laws  that  govern  matter  or 
motion.  That  law  is  the  law  of  gravity.  Herschel 
has  said :  "It  is  reasonable  to  regard  gravity  as 
the  result  of  a  Consciousness  and  a  will,  existent 

—  121  — 


somewhere."  May  we  not  conclude  that  that  Con- 
sciousness and  that  Will  is  God  ? 

Not  a  grain  of  sand,  not  a  drop  of  moisture  has 
ever  broken  the  law  of  gravity.  Atom  to  atom,  sun 
to  sun,  system  to  system,  all  are  held  in  a  divine 
bond  of  harmony  to  the  One  Great  Center  of  the 
Universe.  Upon  the  almighty  and  omnipotent 
force  of  that  law  depends  the  destiny  of  our  little 
solar  system  and  millions  of  systems  yet  unknown ; 
should  this  law  of  gravitation,  that  holds  atom  to 
atom,  and  sun  to  sun,  be  for  one  moment  suspend- 
ed, millions  of  millions  of  suns  would  be  plunged 
into  everlasting  night,  worlds  would  crumble  into 
atoms,  chaos  would  reign  supreme,  and  not  the 
least  throb  of  life  would  awaken  again  forever. 
But  higher  than  the  law  of  gravitation,  God  has 
enthroned  the  Law  of  Love.  As  the  law  of  gravi- 
tation attracts  atom  to  atom,  and  sun  to  sun,  so 
the  Law  of  Love  attracts  heart  to  heart,  soul  to 
soul,  and  spirit  to  spirit,  and  all  to  God ;  and 
although  the  material  universe  may  be  destroyed 
at  the  bidding  of  His  Almighty  Will,  there  would 
yet  remain  an  invisible  spiritual  universe,  where 
the  Law  of  Love  would  reign  supreme  and  the 
immortal  soul  be  safe  from  death  in  the  ceaseless 
cycles  and  ever  recurring  mornings  of  eternal  life. 

Le  us  respect  the  attraction  of  atom  to  atom,  of 
sun  to  sun,  of  system  to  system,  for  they  all  elo- 
quently proclaim  the  attraction  of  the  soul  to  God. 


THE  IVY 

To  the  ancients  the  ivy  was  the  subject  of  a 
myth  or  religious  allegory.  It  was  the  plant  sacred 
the  Bacchus,  the  god  of  wine.  The  ivy  furnished 
the  wreath  of  Bacchus,  the  wood  of  his  cup  and 
the  material  for  the  chest  of  the  great  mysteries.  In 
the  architecture  of  the  middle  ages  the  ivy  leaf  is 
used  as  a  symbol  of  Nature  and  life,  intelligence, 
knowledge  and  joyousness,  against  the  gloomy 
prison  of  form  and  tyranny  which  held  Truth  in 
chains  and  was  used  as  a  symbol  of  the  Free- 
masons and  carved  on  the  capitals  of  old  cathe- 
drals, and  was  frequently  introduced  by  the  Greeks 
in  the  architectural  ornaments  of  their  temples 


FAITH 

By   Frances  Anne   Kemble 

Better  trust  all  and  be  deceived, 

And  weep  that  trust  and  that  deceiving, 

Than   doubt  one   heart  that  if  believed 
Had  bless'd  one's  life  with  true  believing. 

Oh,  in  this  mocking  world  too  fast 

The  doubting  fiend  o'ertakes  our  youth ; 

Bettar  be  cheated  to  the  last 

Than  lose  the  blessed  hope  of  truth. 

— 122  — 


A  SONG  OF  VICTORY 

(Dedicated  to  President  Wilson,  the  servant  of 
humanity,  who  has  so  nobly  labored  for  World 
Peace.) 

To  Thee,  O  God,  all  Nation's  Light, 
We  give  thanks  for  victory  won. 

From   land   and   sea   now   fades   the    night 
The   dawn  of  Peace   has  come. 

Now  autocratic  rule  that  brings 

Unhallowed  power  fails — 
Thy  flaming  Angel  may  fold  his  wings — 

Humanity's  cause  prevails. 

Thine  are  the  sceptre  and  the  sword — 
Stretch  forth  Thy  mighty  hand — 

Thou  art  all  people's  Judge  and  Lord ; 
Bring  endless  peace  to  every  land. 

Though  war  has  shadowed  all  the  earth, 
And  every  home  must  mourn  the  slain, 

Yet  in  our  hearts  new  hopes  have  birth. 
That  Brotherhood  and   Peace   may   reign. 

We  gave  our  loved  for  Freedom's  sake — 
Our  wealth,  our  hearts,  our  lives  are  Thine 

If  in  the  sacrifice  we  make 
Shall  live  our  Cause  Divine. 

When  Peace   shall  clothe  the   battlefields 

With   flowers  and  waving  grain, 
Then    Thy    love    shall    reign    triumphantly, 
And  our  hallowed  dead  shall  live  again. 

(Dedication  accepted  in  letter  of  thanks  from 
President  Wilson.  Published  in  the  Minneapolis 
Tribune  November  llth,  1919.  Set  to  music  by 
Arthur  Ward,  composer,  Minneapolis.) 


SONNET  TO  SOLITUDE 

To  solitude  shall  memory  bring 

The  treasures  of  the  past, 
And  bright  on  hope's  prophetic  wing 

Shall  love  her  splendor  cast. 
O'er  broken  vows,  and  ruined  hopes, 

And  days  and  nights  of  pain ; 
For  the  soul,  a  glad  immortal, 

Rebuilds  our  hopes  again. 
In  fairer  forms  and  shapes  of  light, 

For  more  celestial  spheres, 
And  not  one  treasure  shall  be  lost 

When  God  completes  the  years ; 
Safe  garnered  in  the  worlds  above 
Are  all  the  treasures  of  our  love. 

—  123  — 


THE  SYBILS,   THE  WITCH  OF   ENDOR, 
AND  MODERN  FORTUNE  TELLING 

The  word  Sybil  signifies  the  counsel  of  a  god. 
To  the  ancients  the  Sybils  were  prophetesses,  and 
they  foretold  the  future  to  all  who  believed  in 
their  oracles.  Plato  and  Cicero  often  speak  of 
them  with  respect  in  their  writings,  and  it  has 
been  said  that  Virgil  in  his  "Pollio"  took  from  the 
Sybilline  verses  the  prophecy,  translated  by  Dry- 
den,  which  foretold  the  birth  of  the  Messiah  and 
which  is  strikingly  like  the  Prophecy  in  the  elev- 
enth chapter  of  Isaaih. 

Little  is  known  of  these  ancient  prophetesses. 
Erythraea  was  the  most  conspicuous  among  them. 
Cuma,  a  city  of  Campania,  was  the  field  of  her  pro- 
phetic labors.  Her  oratory  was,  so  says  tradition,  a 
cave,  or  the  artificial  hollow  of  a  rock,  from 
whence  issued  her  solemn  responses. 

It  is  affirmed  by  ancient  writers,  that,  under  the 
reign  of  the  last  Tarquin,  there  came  a  woman  to 
Rome,  who  offered  the  king  nine  volumes  of  the 
Sibylline  oracles  for  three  hundred  pieces  of  gold. 
On  being  refused,  she  destroyed  three  of  the  vol- 
umes, and  demanded  the  same  price  for  the  re- 
mainder. On  being  refused  a  second  time,  she 
destroyed  three  more  volumes,  and  still  demanded 
the  three  hundred,  which  the  king,  on  consulting 
the  Augurs,  paid  down  and  received  the  books  as  a 
present  from  the  gods.  These  books  were  care- 
fully preserved  till  the  monarchy  was  destroyed, 
and  were  then  used  as  instruments  of  government, 
the  senate  alone  having  authority  to  consult  them 
through  the  quindecemviri,  and  the  responses 
clothed  their  policy  in  popular  estimation  with 
divine  authority.  Afterwards  the  capitol  was  partly 
consumed,  and  the  books  were  burned.  Others 
were  collected  and  deposited  in  their  place,  but 
they  were  gradually  corrupted,  and  about  the  year 
A.D.  four  hundred  they  were  all  destroyed.  Whole 
books  of  Greek  verses  have  since  appeared  as  Sybil- 
line  oracles,  but  they  are  little  if  anything  more 
than  feeble  rhapsodies,  without  the  least  evidence 
that  they  are  the  true  oracular  responses. 

THE  WITCH  OF  ENDOR 

"God  is  departed  from  me,  and  answereth  me 
no  more  neither  by  prophets  nor  by  dreams  there- 
fore have  I  called  thee,  that  thou  mayest  make 
known  unto  me  what  I  shall  do." 

From  his  early  boyhood  days  King  Saul  had 
leaned  toward  the  occult,  the  mysterious.  Always 
he  had  sought  to  read  the  future  with  the  aid  of 
those  who  expounded  the  mysteries,  and  now, 
stricken  by  calamities  and  appalled  by  the  immi- 

—  124  — 


nence  of  foreign  invasion,  "his  heart  greatly  trem- 
bles", and  in  the  depths  of  his  despair  he  consults 
the  Woman  of  Endor. 

The  Woman  of  Endor!  The  great  king  Saul 
visits  a  fortune  teller,  a  trance  medium,  a  witch,  if 
you  please. 

Was  she  old  and  hideous  in  aspect,  whispering 
words  fraught  with  hidden  meaning  while  replen- 
ishing the  fires  under  a  cauldron  of  boiling  herbs, 
or  young  and  beautiful  ?  Alas !  we  do  not  know  ; 
but  listen  to  her  words  of  greeting : 

"Behold  thou  hast  prevailed  upon  me  to  listen 
to  thy  voice,  even  at  the  peril  of  my  life.  Now 
hearken  to  the  voice  of  thy  hand-maid  and  let  me 
set  out  a  morsel  of  bread  before  thee,  and  eat  that 
thou  mayst  have  strength." 

A  beautiful  picture  of  hospitality  and  kindly 
ministry  i 

Does  such  a  voice,  such  womanly  solicitude  for 
one  in  physical  and  mental  distress  accompany  a 
harsh,  forbidding  nature  ?  Rather  let  us  picture 
her  in  her  dark,  majestic  beauty,  clothed  in  richly- 
colored  oriental  robes,  with  chiseled  nostril  and 
deep,  spiritual  eyes. 

"She  had  gathered  the  sacred  lotus  for  the  wor*- 
ship  of  Isis.  She  had  smoothed  the  dark-winged 
Ibis  in  the  temple  of  the  gods.  She  was  familiar 
with  the  mysteries  of  the  Pyramids.  She  had 
quaffed  the  waters  of  the  Nile,  even  where  they 
well  up  in  the  cavernous  vaults  of  the  ancient 
Cheops.  She  had  watched  the  stars  and  learned 
their  names  and  courses.  She  was  familiar  with  the 
influence  of  Pleiads  and  Orion.  Her  teachers  were 
meek  and  reverent  worshipers  of  nature  and  the 
Maid  of  Endor  an  earnest  pupil.  She  worked  with 
them  in  the  laboratory,  creating  the  gem  and:  pearl 
and  all  things  whatsoever  wherein  the  breath  of  life 
entered  not.  Thus  was  she  learned  in  all  the  wis- 
dom of  the  East.  She  had  listened  to  the  sage  of 
Brahma,  ^and  she  knew  the  philosophy  of  the 
schools  to  which  the  accomplished  Greeks  after- 
ward turned  to  find  Truth ;  and  now  she  had 
come  to  Israel  to  learn  of  the  new  faith."  An 
earnest  disciple  of  Truth,  was  she  not,  and  the 
great  King  Saul  heard  at  last  his  doom,  for  "the 
spirit  of  the  old  man  covered  with  a  mantle" 
appeared  and  said :  "Tomorrow  shalt  thou  and 
thy  sons  be  even  as  I  am." 

AND  MODERN  FORTUNE  TELLING 

We  are  prone  to  condemn  all  fortune  tellers* 
as  charlatans,  but  they  all  possess  some  mysterious 
power.  Dignify  it  with  the  ancient  name  of 
Prophecy  if  you  will,  it  has  in  reality  degenerated 
into  common  psychism.  The  world  will  always  have 

—  125  — 


its  dreams,  its  visions,  but  they  will  come  un- 
sought in  moments  of  spiritual  and  mental  exalta- 
tion and  supreme  self-denial.  Visions  do  not 
come  through  crossing  the  palm  of  the  fortune 
teller  with  gold.  King  Saul  commanded  the 
Woman  of  Endor  to  reveal  his  doom.  She  could 
do  no  less  than  obey;  but  we  rather  like  to  think 
of  her  as  a  revealer  of  ideals,  of  visions. 

Let  fortune  telling  prevail,  but  put  a  ban  upon 
any  but  good  fortune  telling.  Those  who  have 
only  dark  pictures  to  reveal  should  be  relegated  to 
the  shades.  They  are  not  nearly  so  highly  evolved 
as  were  the  Delphian  and  Olympian  oracles  whose 
prophecy  might  always  be  construed  to  augur  vic- 
tory rather  than  defeat.  Sometimes  I  have  thought 
that  dark  picture  in  the  Bible,  of  the  destruction 
of  Babylon,  although  sublime  in  its  awful  symbol- 
ism, was  enough  to  have  brought  about  the  very 
fate  that  was  foretold. 

'And  Babylon,  the  glory  of  kingdoms,  the  beauty 
of  the  Chaldean  excellency,  shall  be  as  when  God 
overthrew  Sodom  and  Gomorrah.  It  shall  never 
be  inhabited,  neither  shall  it  be  dwelt  in  from 
generation  to  generation  ;  neither  shall  the  Arabian 
pitch  tent  there  ;  neither  shall  the  shepherds  make 
their  fold  there.  But  wild  beasts  of  the  desert 
shall  lie  there,  and  their  houses  shall  be  full  of 
doleful  creatures ;  and  owls  shall  dwell  there,  and 
satyrs  shall  dance:  and  the  wild  beasts  of  the 
islands  shall  cry  in  their  desolate  houses  and 
dragons  in  their  pleasant  places ;  and  her  time 
is  near  to  come,  and  her  days  shall  not  be  pro- 
longed." Every  particular  of  this  prophecy  was 
fulfilled,  and  for  centuries  the  very  place  where 
Babylon,  the  wonder  of  the  world,  once  stood,  was 
unknown. 

Rather  let  our  modern  prophets,  our  modern 
fortune  tellers,  picture  what  the  world  will  be 
when  the  years  have  rolled  away — what  man  will 
be  when  he  comes  to  fulfillment  of  his  divine 
estate. 

Don't  be  a  fortune  teller  unless  you  can  be  a 
good  one.  In  fact,  it  is  rather  productive  of  harm 
"to  undertake  to  read  another  person's  future  un 
less  you  are  divine — unless  you  are  a  god — for  if 
you  are  less,  your  soul  will  be  shaken  as  the 
soul  of  Savonarola  was  shaken  when  he  "touched 
the  fiery  lips  of  Truth — and  died." 

The  unfortunate  are  always  superstitious.  Such 
persons  need  help — not  confirmation  of  their  fears. 
Too  feeble  to  enter  the  precincts  of  Truth,  they 
fall  back  into  darkness,  because  there  is  no  help- 
ing hand,  that  they  might  be  led  to  see  that  the 
temporal  will  soon  be  lost  in  the  universal,  and 
from  the  shadows  of  their  fears  they  shall  emerge 
into  the  ,glorious  sunlight  of  Truth. 

— 126  — 


LIGHT  AND  DARKNESS, 

OR 

Thought  As  Related  to  Color  and  Sound 

"In  the  beginning  God  created  the  heaven  and 
the  earth. 

And  the  earth  was  without  form,  and  void, 
and  darkness  was  upon  the  face  of  the  deep,  and 
God  said :  Let  there  be  light,  and  there  was  light." 

Thus  in  the  beginning  were  the  two  symbols  of 
Light  and  Darkness,  from  which  the  two  principles 
of  good  and  evil  were  derived.  Physical  light  rep- 
resents spiritual  holiness,  and  physical  darkness 
rperesents  spiritual  depravity.  To  the  ancients  all 
good  came  from  the  dazzling  world  of  light  beyond 
the  sky,  and  all  evil  came  from  the  underworld  of 
darkness. 

Light  is  a  trinity  which  corresponds  to  the  Holy 
Trinity — for,  when  resolved  into  its  component 
colors,  it  consists  of  seven  colors — red,  orange, 
yellow,  green,  blue,  indigo  and  violet — of  which 
colors,  red,  yellow  and  blue  are  the  primary  colors, 
or  Trinity  of  Light. 

The  ancient  Chaldeans,  who  were  in  reality  star- 
worshipers,  attributed  different  colors  to  the  differ- 
ent planets. 

In  Egyptian  mythology,  Isis  is  the  great  mother, 
the  earth,  whose  robe  sparkles  with  all  colors  of 
reflected  light  from  Osiris,  the  sun. 

In  the  Koran,  chapter  XVI,  Mahomet  says :  "The 
colors  which  the  earth  displays  to  our  eyes  are 
manifest  signs  to  those  who  think."  Thus  the  many- 
colored  robe  which  Isis  wore  corresponds  to  the 
colors  which  the  Seer  beheld  in  the  world  of 
spirits. 

The  brilliant  colors  set  in  the  gems  of  the 
breastplate  of  Aaron  and  of  the  precious  stones 
which  formed  the  foundations  of  the  Holy  City 
signify  the  qualities  of  heavenly  wisdom  and 
intelligence  beaming  forth  from  the  Word  of 
God. 

Occult  science  teaches  that  sound  and  color  are 
simply  numbers  speaking  to  us  on  the  plane  of 
hearing  and  sight.  Thus  in  the  religion  of  the 
ancient  Chaldeans  —  who  were  so  susceptible  to 
planetary  influence — all  were  in  direct  com- 
munication with  the  planets,  which  communicated 
to  them  vibrations  of  color,  ,md  of  sound,  and  each 
person  wore  a  robe  of  the  color  belonging  to  the 
planet  worshiped.  Thus  they  were  akin  to 
flowers  which  have  affinity  for  certain  colors, 
according  as  they  correspond  with  their  disposi- 
tion and  character.  Thus  the  members  of  the  same 
family  participated  in  different  festivities,  and  the 
worship  accorded  to  the  star  Deva  was  a  tribute 
of  affection  or  natural  affinity.  The  people  lived 

—  127  — 


in  the  light  or  vibration  of  the  planet  reflected  or 
selected,  and  the  sick  were  laid  within  its  rays. 

All  seven  colors  were  revealed  in  the  sunlight, 
hence  the  great  performance  was  the  Festival  of 
the  Sun,  when  upon  a  particular  day  of  the  year 
the  rays  of  the  sun  shone  upon  and  lighted  a 
lamp  in  front  of  the  altar,  by  means  of  a  lens 
constructed  of  a  globe  of  water ;  this  was  called  the 
"lighting  of  the  moon  fire"  which  was  kept  burning 
for  a  year  and  then  allowed  to  go  out  that  it  might 
be  lighted  again  in  the  same  way.  All  the  seven 
colors  revealed  in  the  sunlight  have  each  a  certain 
rate-  of  vibration,  which  makes  the  color.  Red  is 
slower  than  any  of  the  other  colors,  and  violet 
faster.  When  the  rate  of  vibration  of  light  be- 
comes slowest  it  ceases  to  be  color  and  becomes 
sound ;  then  the  seven  colors  of  light  become  the 
seven  notes  of  the  octave.  And  the  ancients  were 
in  reality  right  who  spoke  of  the  music  of  the 
spheres,  for  each  planet  has  its  individual  color, 
which  again  become  the  seven  notes  of  the  dia- 
pason, and  there  are  souls  who  are  attuned  to 
the  music  of  the  spheres. 

Light  is  in  reality  the  creator  of  the  universe, 
for  everything  that  exists  in  nature  is  only  an 
expression  of  rhythmical  numbers  of  Light.  Thus 
it  is  that  Nature  always  geometmes  and  why  an 
archetype  of  creation  has  existed  from  the  begin- 
ning. 

Every  leaf  and  twig,  every  drop  of  water  and 
grain  of  sand  is  a  combination  of  rhyth- 
mical numbers  which  are  in  reality  bu,t  emanations 
of  Light.  Thus  the  snowflakes  fall  in  six-rayed 
figures  whose  needles  converge  from  each  other 
at  an  angle  of  sixty  degrees.  Thus  every  geomet- 
rical figure  is  found  in  nature,  in  one  of  the  four 
kingdoms,  and  every  plant  every  human  being, 
has  a  certain  keynote,  or  color  vibration,  to  which 
they  involuntarily  respond.  Protoplasm*  the  jelly- 
like  basis  of  physical  life,  consists  of  myriads  of 
tiny  lives  having  a  strong  affinity  for  certain 
colors,  and  repulsive  to  other  colors.  Thoughts 
are  vibrations  sent  out  into  the  world,  a  mental 
world,  which  register  themselves  in  colors  in  the 
astral  light.  By  thinking  thoughts  of  peace  and 
harmony  and  good  will  to  all  creatures  we  may 
become  co-workers  wi-th  the  spirits  of  Light,  the 
great  Devas,  who  are  assisting  in  the  evolution  of 
the  world;  by  thinking  thoughts  of  hate  we  not 
only  hinder  our  own  evolution,  but  become  akin 
to  the  spirits  of  the  underworld  of  darkness  and 
disintegration. 

When  color  registers  itself  upon  the  physical 
organism  it  Becomes  sensation  and  feeling.  Thus 
in  our  emotions  we  are  merely  the  victims  of  the 
vibratory  forces  of  our  own  thoughts  and  our 
environment,  and  this  proves  the  great  necessity 

—  128  — 


of  a  counter-will  or  thought-force  which  may  pro- 
tect us  from  the  thought  of  others  and  transform 
our  own  lives  into  the  likeness  of  our  ideal,  for 
the  physical  atoms  arrange  themselves  into  the 
likeness  of  our  ideal,  in  obedience  to  our  will;  and 
when  we  desire  that  which  is  beautiful  and  good 
and  true,  we  not  only  become  the  architect  of 
the  physical  body,  but  create  an  astral  body, 
and  a  spiritual  or  mental  body,  in  which  invisible 
bodies  we  shall  assimilate  to  ourselves  all  experi- 
ences, as  we  progress  in  our  pilgrimage  through  the 
many  spheres  and  planes  of  existence  unto  God. 


THE  NEW  AND  THE  OLD 

Give   me   old   songs   whose   every   tone 

Is  but  an  echo  of  my  own. 

Give  me  old  books  whose  pages  hold 

A  rarer  worth  than  gems  or  gold. 

Give  me  old  friends,  the  tried  of  years, 

Whose  soul  is  in  their  smiles  and  tears. 

Give  me  old  shoes,  but  not  to  tread  old  paths. 

Old  paths  are   old — 

I  want  the  splendor  of  the  dawn 
And  all  the  gates  of  gold. 
I  want  the  road  that  ever  winds 

Toward   the   sunrise   hills. 
I  want  adventure  and  great  hopes, 

And  all   the   modern  thrills. 
Old  paths  are  old— with  moss  o'er  grown; 
Old  comrades  are  not  there, 
They  passed  before  us; — we  are  old 
And  they  are  young  and  fair. 
There  are  no  old — 

We   only   love    that   which   is   ever   new — 
Old  songs,  old  books,  old  friends,  old  Truths : 

Are  they  not  new  to  you"? 


THE   RETURN 

Long  have  I  loved  thee,  Solitude, 

Thy  scenes  are  dear  to  me ; 
Now  like  a  bird  with  broken  wing 

I  hide  at  last  in  thee. 
My  weary  heart  I  pillow  now 

Upon  the  lap  of  Mother  Earth, 
And  feel  the  love  that  nourished  me 

And  blest  me  from  my  birth. 
I  come  to  thee  a  failure, 

To  die,  perchance  to  live 
O  Solitude,  receive  me, 

And  thy  sweet  blessing  give. 

—  129  — 


HURRAH  FOR  OUR  AMERICA! 

Hurrah  for  our  America! 
Too  proud  indeed  to  fight, 

In  her  calm  majestic  beauty, 
Save  in  the  cause  of  Right ! 

Hurrah  for  our  America ! 

When  the  tyrant  tried  the  seas, 
She  wore  the  garb  of  pleasure, 

And  quaffed  the  cup  of  ease ; 
Now  the  wealth  of  all  the  country 

Has  been  sent  to  feed  the  brave, 
And  the  lifeblood  of  the  nation 

Has  been  poured  upon  the  wave. 

Through  the  red  sea  of  carnage, 

Still  she  struggles  in  the  fight, 
Speaking  courage  to  her  allies 

In  the  cause  of  Peace  and  Right. 
While  our  starry  Flag  of  Freedom 

Waves  above  the  brimming  hell 
Men  may  fight  and  die  with  courage, 

Knowing  that  all  things  are  well, 
And  that  when  the  awful  slaughter 

Has  been  ended  and  victory  won, 
Still  the  flag  of  Home  and  Freedom 

Shall  be  waving  in  the  sun. 

Hurrah  for  our  America ! 

Liberty's  immortal  crown 
Shall  fulfill  the  world's  great  longing, 

Such  shall  be  her  great  renown, 
And  where  now  the  tyrant  trembles 

As  the  hosts  of  God  move  on ; 
Shackled  hands  are  reaching  upward 

To  the  glory  of  the  dawn. 
Nevermore  shall  greed  assemble 

Armies  in  the  lust  of  power ; 
In  war's  furnace  souls  are  learning 

The  great  lessons  of  the  hour. 
— Published  in  the  Minneapolis  Tribune. 


If  you  love  me  tell  me  so, 
For  you  loved  me  long  ago ; 
In    some   mystic   memory   land, 
Where   we  wandered  hand   in  hand ; 
Methinks   'twas   in   ancient  Greece, 
Where  your  art  found  sweet  release 
There  I  sang  the  hours  away, 
While  you  chiseled   forms   of  clay, 
Or  in   beauteous   frescoes   wrought 
All   the   marvels   of  your  thought. 
Now  that  beauty  is  in  your  face, 
You  are  clothed   in  classic  grace, 
And  the  silver  of  your  hair 
Is  a  halo  that  you  wear, 
As  you  wore  the  laurel  and  bay 
In  that  day  so  far  away. 

—  130  — 


THEOSOPHY   AND    THE   THEOSOPHICAL 
SOCIETY 

THE  THREE  OBJECTS  ARE 
First. — To    form    a    nucleus    of    the    Universal 

Brotherhood  of  Humanity,  without  distinction  of 

race,  creed,  sex,  caste  or  color. 

Second. — To  encourage  the  study  of  comparative 

religion,  philosophy  and  science. 

Third. — To  investigate  the  unexplained  laws  of 

nature  and  the  powers  latent  in  man. 

No  person's  religion  opinions  are  asked  upon  his 
joining,  nor  is  interference  with  them  permitted, 
but  everyone  is  required  to  show  to  the  religion 
of  his  fellow-members  the  same  respect  as  he  claims 
for  his  own. 

The  Society  has  no  dogmas,  and  therefore  no 
heretics.  It  does  not  shut  any  man  out  because  he 
does  not  believe  the  Theosophical  teachings.  A 
man  may  deny  every  one  of  them,  save  that  of 
human  Brotherhood,  and  claim  his  place  and  his 
right  within  its  ranks. 

Theosophists  realize  that  just  because  the  intel- 
lect can  only  do  its  best  work  in  its  own  atmosphere 
of  freedom,  truth  can  best  be  seen  when  no  condi- 
tions are  laid  down  as  to  the  right  of  investigation, 
as  to  the  methods  of  research.  To  them  Truth  is 
so  supreme  a  thing,  that  they  do  not  desire  to  bind 
any  man  with  conditions  as  to  how,  or  where,  or 
why  he  shall  seek  it. 

The  future  of  the  Society  depends  on  the  fact 
that  it  should  include  a  vast  variety  of  opinions 
on  all  questions  on  which  differences  of  opinions 
exist ;  it  is  not  desirable  that  there  should  be  within 
it  only  one  school  of  thought,  and  it  is  the  duty 
of  every  member  to  guard  this  liberty  for  himself 
and  for  others.  The  Theosophical  Society  is  the 
servant  of  the  Divine  Wisdom,  and  its  motto  is: 
"There  is  no  Religion  higher  than  Truth."  It  seeks 
in  every  error  for  the  heart  of  truth  whereby  it 
lives,  and  whereby  it  attaches  to  itself  human 
minds. 

Every  religion,  every  philosophy,  every  science, 
every  activity,  draws  what  it  has  of  truth  and 
beauty  from  the  Divine  Wisdom,  but  cannot  claim 
it  as  exclusively  its  own,  or  as  against  others. 
Theosophy  does  not  belong  to  the  Theosophical 
Society;  the  Theosophical  Society  belongs  to 
Theosophy. 

The  Theosophical  Society  is  composed  of  stu- 
dents, belonging  to  any  religion  in  the  world  or  to 
none,  who  are  united  by  their  approval  of  the 
above  objects,  by  their  wish  to  remove  religious 
antagonisms  and  to  draw  together  men  of  good 
will,  whatsoever  their  religious  oponions,  and  by 
their  desire  to  study  religious  truths  and  to  share 

—  131  — 


the  results  with  others.  Their  bond  of  union  is  not 
the  profession  of  a  common  belief,  but  a  common 
search  and  aspiration  for  Truth.  They  hold  that 
Truth  should  be  sought  by  study,  by  reflection,  by 
purity  of  life,  by  devotion  to  high  ideals,  and  they 
regard  Truth  as  a  prize  to  be  striven  for,  not  as"  a 
dogma  to  be  imposed  by  authority.  They  consider 
that  belief  should  be  the  result  of  individual  study 
or  intuition,  and  not  its  antecedent,  and  should  rest 
on  knowledge,  not  on  assertion.  They  extend  tol- 
erance to  all,  even  to  the  intolerant,  not  as  a  priv- 
ilege they  bestow,  but  as  a  duty  they  perform,  and 
they  seek  to  remove  ignorance,  not  to  punish  it. 
They  see  every  religion  as  a  partial  expression  of 
the  Divine  Wisdom,  and  prefer  its  study  to  its 
condemnation,  and  its  practice  to  proselytism. 
Peace  is  their  watch-word,  as  Truth  is  their  aim. 

THEOSOPHY 

Theosophy  is  the  body  of  truths  which  forms  the 
basis  of  all  religions  and  which  cannot  be  claimed 
as  the  exclusive  possession  of  any.  It  offers  a  phil- 
osophy which  renders  life  intelligible,  and  demon- 
strates the  justice  and  the  love  which  guide  its  evo- 
lution. It  puts  death  in  its  rightful  place,  as  a  re- 
curring incident  in  an  endless  life,  opening  the 
gateway  of  a  fuller  and  more  radiant  existence.  It 
restores  to  the  world  the  Science  of  the  Spirit, 
teaching  man  to  know  the  Spirit  as  himself,  and 
the  mind  and  body  as  his  servants.  It  illuminates 
the  scriptures  and  doctrines  of  religions  by  unveil- 
ing their  hidden  meanings,  and  thus  justifying 
them  at  the  bar  of  intelligence,  as  they  are  ever 
justified  in  the  eyes  of  intuition. 

Members  of  the  Theosophical  Society  study  these 
truths,  and  Theosophists  endeavor  to  live  them. 
Every  one  willing  to  study,  to  be  tolerant,  to  aim 
high,  and  to  work  perseveringly,  is  welcomed  as  a 
member,  and  it  rests  with  the  member  to  become 
a  true  Theosophist. 

THE  THREE  GREAT  TRUTHS 

There  are  Three  Truths  which  are  absolute,  and 
cannot  be  lost,  and  yet  may  remain  silent  for  lack 
of  speech.  They  are  as  great  as  life  itself,  and  yet 
as  simple  as  the  simplest  mind  of  man. 

I.  God  exists,  and  He  is  good.     He  is  the  great 
life-giver  who  dwells  within  us  and  without  us,  is 
undying  and  eternally  beneficent.    He  is  not  heard, 
nor  seen,  nor  touched,  yet  He  is  perceived  by  the 
man  who  desires  perception. 

II.  Man  is  immortal,  and  his  future  is  one  whose 
glory  and  splendor  have  no  limit. 

III.  A  divine  law  of  absolute  justice   rules   the 
world,  so  that  each  man  is  in  truth  his  own  judge, 
the   dispenser  of  glory  or  gloom   to   himself,  the 
decreer  of  his  life,  his  reward,  his  punishment. 

—  132  — 


Put  shortly,  and  in  the  language  of  the  "man  of 
the  street,"  this  means  that  God  is  good,  that  man 
is  immortal,  and  that  as  we  sow  we  must  reap. 

We  distinguish  between  God  as  the  Infinite  Exis- 
tence, the  Absolute,  the  All,  and  the  manifestation 
of  this  One  Existence  as  a  revealed  God,  or  Logos, 
the  Word,  evolving  and  guiding  a  universe. 

To  each  of  these  great  truths  are  attached  certain 
others,  subsidiary  and  explanatory. 

From  the  first  of  them  it  follows : 

1.  That,  in  spite  of  appearances,  all  things  are 
definitely   and    intelligently    moving    together   for 
good;    that   all   circumstances,   however   untoward 
they   may   seem,   are    in   reality   exactly   what   are 
needed ;   that  everyhting  around  us  tends,  not  to 
hinder  us  but  to  help  us,  if  it  is  only  understood. 

2.  That,  since   the   whole   scheme   thus   tends   to 
man's   benefit,   clearly   it  is   his   duty   to   learn    to 
understand  it. 

3.  That,  when  he  thus  understands  it,  it  is  also 
his  duty  intelligently  to  co-operate  in  this  scheme. 

From  the  second  great  truth  it  follows : 

1.  That  the  true  man  is  a  Spirit,  and  that  this 
body  is  only  an  appanage. 

2.  That   he    must,    therefore,    regard    everything 
from  the  standpoint  of  the  Spirit,  and  that  in  every 
case,  when  an  internal  struggle  takes  place,  he  must 
realize  his  identity  with  the  higher  and  not  with 
the  lower. 

3.  That  what  we  commonly  call  his  life  is  only 
one  day  in  his  true  and  larger  life. 

4.  That  death  is  a  matter  of  far  less  importance 
than  is  usually  supposed,  since  it  is  by  no  means 
the  end  of  life,  but  merely  the  passage  from  one 
stage  of  it  to  another. 

5.  That  man  has  an  immense   evolution  behind 
him,  the  study  of  which  is  most  fascinating,  inter- 
esting and  instructive. 

6.  That  he  has  also  a  splendid  evolution  before 
him,  the  study  of -which  will  be  even  more  fas- 
cinating and  instructive. 

7.  That   there   is   an  absolute   certainty   of   final 
attainment  for  every  human  being,  no  matter  how 
far  he  may  seem  to  have  strayed  from  the  path 
of  evolution. 

From  the  third  great  truth  it  follows: 

1.  That  every  thought,  word,  or  action  produces 
its  definite  result — not  a  reward  or  a  punishment 
imposed  from  without,  but  a  result  inherent  in  the 
action   itself,   definitely   connected   with   it   in   the 
relation  of  cause  and  effect,  these  being  really  only 
the  two  inseparable  parts  of  one  whole. 

2.  That  it  is  both  the  duty  and  the  interest  of 
man  to  study  this  divine  law  closely,  so  that  he 

—  133  — 


may  be  able  to  adapt  himself  to  it  and  to  use  it, 
as  we  use  other  great  laws  of  nature. 

3.  That  it  is  necessary  for  man  to  obtain  perfect 
control  over  himself,  so  that  he  may  guide  his  life 
intelligently  in  accordance  with  this  law. 

BROTHERHOOD 

The  first  and  last  word  of  Theosophy  is  the 
spirit  of  Brotherhood.  We  are  all  one  Life.  We 
are  all  one  Love.  Poor  and  rich,  weak  and  strong, 
we  are  all  one  humanity,  and  we  sink  and  rise 
together.  Believe  not  that  by  retiring  to  your  own 
wealthy  and  happy  homes  and  closing  your  win- 
dows against  the  misery  of  the  wretched,  you  in- 
sure for  yourselves  a  happy  and  peaceful  life. 
There  is  no  peace  while  one  man,  woman,  or  child 
is  living  in  misery  and  destitution.  There  is  only 
one  life,  theirs  and  ours  alike,  and  only  as  we 
strive  for  the  redemption  of  human  misery  and 
the  defence  of  the  weak  and  the  miserable,  only 
then  can  we  hope  to  be  recognized  as  fellow- 
workers  with  nature  in  that  great  army  of  the 
redeemers  of  the  world,  to  whom  God  and  the 
Teachers  look  as  Their  human  instruments,  to  do 
in  the  physical  world  that  which  is  essentially  their 
right,  their  duty,  and  if  they  only  knew  it,  their 
highest  happiness  and  their  supreme  fruit. 

WHY  You  SHOULD  JOIN  THE  THEOSOPHICAL 
SOCIETY 

Why  should  you  come  in*?  For  no  reason  at  all, 
unless  to  you  it  is  the  greatest  privilege  to  come 
in,  and  you  desire  to  be  among  those  who  are  the 
pioneers  of  the  thought  of  the  coming  days.  No 
reason  at  all ;  it  is  a  privilege.  We  do  not  beg 
you  to  come  in ;  we  only  say :  "Come  if  you  like  to 
come,  and  share  the  glorious  privilege  that  we  pos- 
sess ;  but  if  you  would  rather  not,  stay  outside,  and 
we  will  give  you  everything  which  we  believe  will 
be  serviceable  and  useful  to  you."  The  feeling 
that  brings  people  into  the  Society  is  the  feeling 
that  makes  the  soldier  spring  forward  to  be 
amongst  the  pioneers  when  the  army  is  going  forth. 
There  are  some  people  so  built  that  they  like  to 
go  in  front  and  face  difficulties,  so  that  other  peo- 
ple may  have  an  easier  time,  and  walk  along  a 
path  that  has  already  been  hewn  out  for  them  by 
hands  stronger  than  their  own.  That  is  the  only 
reason  why  you  should  come  in ;  no  other. 

Come  in  to  give,  to  toil,  to  be  enrolled  amongst 
the  Servants  of  Humanity  who  are  working  for 
the  dawn  of  the  day  of  a  nobler  knowledge,  for 
the  coming  of  the  recognition  of  a  spiritual  Broth- 
erhood amongst  men.  Come  in,  if  you  have  the 
spirit  of  the  pioneer  within  you,  the  spirit  of  the 

—  134  — 


volunteer;  if  to  you  it  is  a  delight  to  cut  the  way 
through  the  jungle  that  others  may  follow,  to  tread 
the  path  with  bruised  feet  in  order  that  others  may 
have  a  smooth  road  to  lead  them  to  the  heights  of 
knowledge.  That  is  the  only  advantage  of  coming 
in:  to  know  in  your  heart  that  you  realize  what 
is  coming,  and  are  helping  to  make  it  come  more 
quickly  for  the  benefit  of  your  fellow-men ;  that 
you  are  working  for  humanity ;  that  you  are  co- 
workers  with  God,  in  making  the  knowledge  of 
Him  spread  abroad  on  every  side ;  that  you  are 
amongst  those  to  whom  future  centuries  will  look 
back,  thanking  you  that  you  saw  the  light  when 
all  men  thought  it  was  dark,  and  that  you  recog- 
nized the  coming  dawn  when  others  believed  the 
earth  was  sunk  in  midnight. 

There  is  no  inspiration  more  inspiring,  no  ideal 
that  lifts  men  to  greater  heights,  no  hope  that  is 
so  full  of  splendor,  no  thought  that  is  so  full  of 
energy,  as  the  inspiration  and  the  ideal,  the  hope 
and  the  thought,  that  you  are  working  for  the 
future,  for  the  day  that  is  yet  to  come.  The  work 
is  its  own  reward,  and  the  opportunity  seized  to- 
day gives  you  a  new  and  larger  opportunity  to- 
morrow. To  adopt  the  words  of  a  great  poet: 

Theosophy 

.    .    ,   says  to  you:    "Son,, 
Silver  and  gold  have  I  none; 
I  give  but  the  love  of  all  nations, 
And  the  life  of  my  people  of  old." 

— MRS    ANNIE  BESANT, 
President   Theosophical  Society. 

ADMISSION  TO  THE  THEOSOPHICAL  SOCIETY 

Every  application  for  membership  in  the  Society 
must  be  made  on  an  authorized  form,  and  must, 
whenever  possible,  be  endorsed  by  two  members 
and  signed  by  the  applicant ;  but  no  persons  under 
the  age  of  twenty-one  years  are  admitted  without 
the  consent  of  their  guardians.  Blank  application 
forms  may  be  obtained  from  the  Secretary  of  any 
Lodge,  or  from  the  General  Secretary  at  Krotona, 
Hollywood,  Los  Angeles,  California. 


God  has  His  worshipers  who  praise 

In  temples  not  made  with  hands, 
And  day  by  day  His  solitudes 

Are  bright  with  angel  bands 
Who  chant  His  litanies  of  praise 

Before  each  flower  and  leafy  shrine — 
No  doughty  saint  would  know  them, 

But  they  are  no  less  divine. 

—  135  — 


KIND  WORDS  from  THEOSOPHISTS  and 
OTHER  NOTED  PEOPLE 

From  Mr.  B.  P.  Wadia,  Manager  of  the  The- 
osophical  Publishing  House,  Adyar,  Madras,  India, 
and  co-Editor  with  Mrs.  Annie  Besant  of  the 
"Theosophist"  and  "Adyar  Bulletin,"  Theosophical 
monthly  magazines  : 

"There  is  much  that  is  admirable  in  your  es- 
says and  poems.  If  you  decide  to  publish  a  book  I 
will  be  glad  to  place  copies  on  our  shelves  and  do 
all  in  my  power  to  aid  in  its  sale." 


From  Mrs.  Annie  Besant,  International  Presi- 
dent of  the  Theosophical  Society  : 

The  following  poem  ("Flowers  and  Thoughts") 
published  in  The  Theosophist  is  from  the  pen  of 
an  American  lady,  Mrs.  Annie  M.  Long  DeBoer. 
It  is  a  very  pretty  and  rmisical  little  poem,  and 
thoroughly  Theosophical  in  spirit. 
*  *  * 

Mrs.  Anna  M.  DeBoer  : 

I  regard  your  poems  on  "Childhood's  Hours"  in 
the  last  Progress  as  the  best  one.  In  my  idea  it 
reaches  to  the  true  height  of  successful  poetry. 
Many  poems  are  good,  but  now  and  then  there  is 
one  we  regard  better. 

Sincerely, 
ROBERT  HENRY  CALLAGHAN. 


Corona,  California. 
My  dear  Mrs.  DeBoer: 

Your  letter  with  enclosures  (herewith  returned) 
was  forwarded  to  me  here  from  Krotona.  I  have 
read  with  interest  the  proof  sheets  of  your  little 
booklet,  and  I  love  it.  You  have  made  a  mosaic  of 
inspiring  and  beautiful  thoughts.  I  like  particu- 
larly what  you  say  of  brotherhood.  The  need  is 
great  and  immediate. 

With  best  wishes,  I  am,      Very  truly  yours, 
ELLEN  DALE  BRANDT. 


Minneapolis,  Minn.,  Dec.  4,  1916. 

From  Mary  Hanford  Ford,  lecturer  for  the 
Bahai  Society  and  art  lecturer  for  the  Panama 
Pacific  Exposition. 

"Thank  you  so  much  for  your  beautiful  little 
poem  which  is  so  full  of  the  spirit  of  beauty  that 
it  cannot  be  far  away  from  God.  I  shall  keep 
your  charming  poem  always,  and  hope  sometime 
to  know  the  author  better." 

With  love  to  you  and  to  our  dear  brothers, 

MARY  HANFORD  FORD. 

—  136  — 


Minneapolis,  Minn.,  Dec.  1902. 
My  dear  Mrs.  DeBoer: 

It  gives  me  pleasure  to  inform  you  that  at  our 
meeting  held  Tuesday  evening  of  last  week,  you 
were  unanimously  elected  to  membership  in  the 
Writer's  League  of  Minneapolis,  Minn. 

Some  of  our  members  read  selections  from  your 
poems,  and  one  of  our  members  sang  your  song, 
which  we  all  thoroughly  enjoyed. 

It  is  our  sincere  wish  that  you  may  derive  as 
much  pleasure  from  your  association  with  us  as 
we  shall  receive. 

Wishing  you  all  success  in  your  literary  and 
musical  work,  I  am,  Sincerely  yours, 

LUCY  SHERMAN  MITCHELL, 
Secretary. 

*  *  * 

From  Governor  Albert  Cummings,  now  Senator 
Cummings  of  Washington,  D.  C. 

March  7,  1906. 
Anna  M.  DeBoer, 
Dear  Madam : 

The  Governor  directs  me  to  thank  you  for  the 
kindly  mention  of  his  candidacy  appearing  in  the 
Courier  of  date  of  February  22nd.  You  well  say 
there  is  only  one  right  way  under  present  condi- 
tions, and  that  is  forward,  and  not  backward.  This 
is  a  fight  for  principle,  and  the  welfare  of  the 
common  people  of  the  State  of  Iowa  is  the  stake. 

Hoping  that  we  may  win,  and  wishing  you 
prosperity,  Yours  truly, 

JOHN  BRIAR, 
Private  Secretary. 

*  *  * 

Dear  Associate : 

I  have  read  your  proofs,  every  one  of  them. 
You  asked  my  opinion  and  I  shall  say  that  some  of 
them  are  very  good.  The  thought  in  all  of  them 
is  good,  and  ought  to  spread  Theosophical  Ideals. 

MARIE  HOTCHENER. 

*  *  * 

A  letter  of  thanks  for  my  "Song  of  Victory." 
THE  WHITE  HOUSE 

Washington,  April  15,  1918. 
Mrs.  Annie  M.  DeBoer, 

Minneapolis,  Minnesota. 
Dear  Madam: 

In  behalf  of  the  President,  permit  me  to  ac- 
knowledge the  receipt  of  your  letter  of  recent  date 
and  to  thank  you  for  your  courtesy  in  sending  him 
its  enclosures.  Sincerely  yours, 

J.  P.  TUMULTY, 
Secretary  to  the  President. 

—  137  — 


From  J.  P.  Holt,  President  Citizens'  Improve- 
ment League,  Hammond,  Louisiana. 

Hammond,  La.,  June  8,  1901. 
Mrs.  Anna  M.  DeBoer. 

My  dear  Mrs.  DeBoer:  I  have  been  made  the 
happy  recipient  of  your  complimentary  copy  of 
that  beautiful  and  bewitching  song.  I  beg  you  to 
conceive  of  my  high  and  lasting  appreciation,  not 
only  for  this  song,  invaluable  to  the  world  of 
music,  but  also  for  your  very  kind  thoughtfulness ; 
for  all  of  which  I  am  more  or  less  indebted,  I 
presume,  to  our  mutual  friend,  Mrs.  O.  C.  C.,  of 
your  city. 

Give  your  grand  muse  free  swing  and  further 
thrill  us  with  the  sweet  symphonies  within  your 
power  to  invoke. 

Again  thanking  you,  and  with  every  good  and 
golden  wish,  I  am,  Yours  very  truly, 

J.  POTTS  HOLT. 

*  *  * 

From  the  Acting  Editor  of  The  Messenger : 

I  think  many  of  your  essays  are  exceedingly 
good,  and  your  book,  as  a  whole,  when  finished, 
will  be  more  than  worth  while. 

ANTOINETTE    PHILLIPS. 

*  *  * 

April    14,    1904. 
My  dear  Mrs.  DeBoer: 

I've  almost  fallen  in  love  with  you  for  the  no- 
tice you  gave  my  book  in  the  Progress '  f  hams 
you  heartily.  Of  course  you  are  coming  to  the 
Exposition  *?  Truly  yours, 

ALEXANDER  N.  DEMENIL, 

Editor  and  publisher,  "The  Hesperian" ;  author  of 
literature  of  Louisiana  Territory,  and  Director  of 
the  Louisiana  Purchase  Exposition,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

*  *  * 

From  the  Editor  of  The  Messenger.  Krotona, 
Hollywood,  Los  Angeles,  California. 

May  1st,  1918. 
My  dear  Mrs.  DeBoer: 

Your  essay,  "Life's  Immortality,"  is  exceedingly 

rd.  Did  I  understand  }'ou  to  say  it  was  written 
The  Messenger  V  If  so  I  am  more  than  thank- 
ful. I  am  returning  some  of  your  manuscripts 
because  I  am  leaving  day  after  tomorrow  for 
Australia  to  be  away  probably  a  year.  We  have 
some  copy  of  yours — enough  for  several  months,  I 
think.  Mrs.  Phillips  is  taking  my  place.  You  will 
like  her,  I  know. 

My  very  best  wishes  to  you,  and  my  love, 

MAY  S.  ROGERS. 

*  *  * 

"Take  up  your  work  you  have  the  good  will  of 
all"  MARIE  POUTZ. 

—  138  — 


NEW  HOME  OF  THEOSOPHICAL 
PUBLISHING   HOUSE 

It  is  with  pleasure  that  we  announce  the  pur- 
chase of  an  attractive  and  conveniently  located 
home  for  the  Theosophical  Publishing  House, 
American  Branch. 

Our  new  headquarters  are  situated  at  the  main 
Vista  Del  Mar  entrance  to  Krotona.  The  rapid 
growth  of  the  business  and  its  reorganization  on  a 
scale  more  commensurate  with  the  ever  increasing 
demand  for  Theosophic  literature  necessitated  our 
moving  into  commodious  quarters. 

Mr.  B.  P.  Wadia,  International  Manager  of  the 
T.  P.  H.,  who  has  been  the  guest  of  the  American 
Section  for  the  past  few  months,  after  carefully 
viewing  the  American  book  situation,  decided  that 
the  needs  of  the  business  demanded  a  permanent 
headquarters  at  Krotona.  The  new  home  i->  large 
enough  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  business  for  sev- 
eral years  to  come. 

The  conspicuous  awakening  of  the  American 
people  to  the  truths  of  Theosophy  has  made  ap- 
parent the  necessity  for  publishing  many  The- 
osophical books  in  America.  To  meet  this  demand, 
two  initial  steps  have  already  been  taken — an  at- 
tractive home  has  been  purchased,  and  the  prelim- 
inary papers  of  incorporation  of  the  T.  P.  H.  filed 
in  order  to  largely  increase  its  capitalization. 

It  is  a  matter  of  satisfaction  that  Mr.  Wadia  has 
been  able  to  secure  additional  capital,  which  places 
our  business  on  a  sound  financial  footing. 

To  secure  the  largest  degree  of  efficiency  in  the 
T.  P.  H.  business,  an  Advisory  Committee  consist- 
ing of  prominent  Theosophists  with  long  business 
experience,  has  been  appointed  to  confer  with  the 
Manager  and  Board  of  Directors  on  request,  in 
matters  pertaining  to  broad  business  policies. 

IMMEDIATE  PUBLICATION 

Members  of  the  American  Section  who  realize 
the  immeasurable  importance  of  H.  P.  B.'s  Secret 
Doctrine  to  the  World,  and  the  necessity  for  its 
wide  distribution  if  the  T.  S.  is  to  fulfill  the 
sacred  trust  bequeathed  to  it  by  our  great  found- 
ers, will  be  glad  to  know  that  our  first  step  will 
be  the  publication  of  this  priceless  work,  in  a  large 
edition.  Other  much  wanted  Theosophical  books 
will  also  be  published  in  the  near  future.  The 
International  T.  P.  H.  holds  the  exclusive  right  to 
publish  the  works  of  our  most  prominent  Theo- 
sophical leaders. 

Plans  are  already  under  way  for  the' establish- 
ment of  an  eastern  or  central  branch  for  more 
convenient  distribution  of  books  to  our  eastern 
customers. 

— 139  — 


All  members  cognizant  of  the  great  opportunity 
for  the  dissemination  of  Theosophical  literature 
will  rejoice  that  the  American  Section  is  to  benefit 
by  this  timely  expansion  of  the  American  T.  P.  H. 

CRAIG  P.  GARMAN, 
Manager   American    Branch. 

B.  P.  WADIA, 
International  Manager. 

The  Theosophical  Society  consists  of  a  number 
of  National  Societies  or  "Sections,"  in  different 
countries  of  the  world,  each  with  its  own  General 
Secretary  and  its  own  organization.  While  prac- 
tically independent  as  regards  internal  affairs,  each 
is  subject  to  the  General  Rules  of  the  Society. 

The  General  Headquarters,  at  Adyar,  Madras 
S.,  India,  comprise  the  Presidential  and  Secretarial 
offices,  publishing  department,  printing  press,  quar- 
ters for  residents  and  students,  and  the  Adyar 
Library.  The  latter  contains  12,000  oriental  man- 
uscripts and  about  8,000  books  in  its  Eastern  Sec- 
tion, and  in  what  is  called  the  Western  Section 
there  are  about  12,000  books  and  pamphlets  on 
eastern  and  western  religions,  philosophies  and 
science.  The  Headquarters  Estate  has  a  frontage 
upon  the  Adyar  River  and  the  Bay  of  Bengal,  and 
covers  300  acres. 

Each  National  Society  consists  of  not  less  than 
seven  Lodges,  and  of  members  unattached  to  any 
Lodge.  National  Societies  or  Sections  are  found 
in  the  following  countries:  America,  England  and 
Wales,  India,  Australia,  Scandinavia,  New  Zealand, 
Netherlands,  France,  Italy,  Germany,  Cuba,  Hun- 
gary, Finland,  Russia,  Bohemia,  South  Africa, 
Scotland,  Switzerland,  Belgium,  the  Dutch  East 
Indies  and  Austria.  A  list  of  Lodges  of  the  The- 
osophical Society  the  world  over  with  the  name 
and  address  of  each  Secretary  is  published  in  the 
report  of  the  Annual  General  Meeting  or  Con- 
vention which  is  held  at  Adyar  and  Benares  alter- 
nately in  the  month  of  December.  This  report 
usually  appears  shortly  after  the  convention  in 
the  chief  magazine  of  the  Societyy,  called  the 
"Theosophist." 

SALAAM  ALEIKUM 

(Peace  be  with  you) 

I  pray  the  prayer  that  Easterns  do — 
May  the  peace  of  Allah  abide  with  you  ; 
Wherever  you  stay,  wherever  you  go, 
May  the  beautiful  Palms  of  Allah  grow; 

Through  the  days  of  labour  and  the  nights  of  rest, 
The  love  of  Good  Allah  make  you  blest ; 
So  I  touch  my  heart  as  the  Easterns  do — 
May  the  peace  of  Allah  abide  with  you. 

—  140  — 


BOOKS  RECOMMENDED  FOR  STUDY 

GENERAL 

The  Riddle  of  Life.    By  Annie  Besant $  .25 

An  Outline  of  Theosophy.    By  C.  W.  Lead- 

beater   25 

Theosophy.    By  Annie  Besant 50 

Popular   Lectures   on   Theosophy.    By   Annie 

Besant    50 

Hints   to   Young   Students   of  Occultism.    By 

L.  W.  Rogers 50 

A  Textbook  of  Theosophy.    By  C.  W.  Lead- 
beater   75 

The  Ancient  Wisdom.    By  Annie  Besant 1.50 

The  Astral  Plane.   By  C.  W.  Leadbeater 35 

The  Devachanic  Plane.  By  C.  W.  Leadbeater  .35 
Man  and  His  Bodies.  By  Annie  Besant 35 

RELIGIOUS 

Universal  Textbook  of  Religion  and  Morals — 

Part  I,  paper 50 

Part  II,  paper 50 

Advanced   Textbook  of   Hindu   Religion  and 

Ethics 1.25 

Four  Great  Religions.    By  Annie  Besant 85 

The  Wisdom  of  the  Upanishads.    By  Annie  ' 

Besant    75 

Hints  on   Study  of  the   Bhagavad   Gita.    By 

Annie  Besant  1.00 

Introduction  to  Yoga.    By  Annie  Besant 75 

Buddhist  Catechism.    By  H.  S.  Olcott 50 

The  Light  of  Asia.   Sir  Edwin  Arnold 1.00 

Esoteric  Christianity.    By  Annie  Besant 1.50 

ETHICS 

Spiritual  Life  for  the  Man  of  the  World.   By 

Annie  Besant  35 

In  the  Outer  Court.  By  Annie  Besant 75 

The  Path  of  Discipleship.  By  Annie  Besant. .  .75 
Initiation :  The  Perfecting  of  Man.  By  Annie 

Besant  1.00 

At  the  Feet  of  the  Master.  By  J.  Krishna- 

murti  (Alcyone) 50 

Education  as  Service.  By  J.  Krishnamurti 

(Alcyone)  50 

The  Voice  of  the  Silence.  By  H.  P.  Bla- 

vatsky 60 

Light  on  the  Path.  By  Mabel  Collins .50 

The  Bhagavad  Gita.  Translated  by  Annie 

Besant    50 

VARIOUS 

Theosophy    and    the    New    Psychology.     By 

Annie  Besant 75 

Dreams.    By  C.  W.  Leadbeater 50 

Clairvoyance.    By  C.  W.  Leadbeater 75 

—  141  — 


Man  Visible  and   Invisible    (illustrated).    By 

G.  W.  Leadbeater 5.00 

Thought- Forms     (illustrated).       By     C.     W. 

Leadbeater  and  Annie   Besant 3.50 

Invisible  Helpers.    By  C.  W.  Leadbeater 75 

Life  After  Death.    By  C.  W.  Leadbeater 25 

Some  Glimpses  of  Occultism.   By  C.  W.  Lead- 
beater     2.00 

The  Inner  Life.    By  C.  W.  Leadbeater 4.00 

Methods  of  Psychic  Development.    By  Irving 

S.  Cooper 50 

Ways  to  Perfect  Health.   By  Irving  S.  Cooper     .50 
The  Secret  of  Happiness.  By  Irving  S.  Cooper     .50 

Thought  Power.   By  Annie  Besant 75 

A  Study  in  Consciousness.    By  Annie  Besant. .  2.00 

Some  Problems  of  Life.    By  Annie  Besant 75 

The  Changing  World.    By  Annie  Besant 1.50 

The  Immediate  Future.    By  Annie  Besant 1.00 

The  Ideals  of  Theosophy.    By  Annie  Besant.     .75 

Study  in  Karma.    By  Annie  Besant 50 

The    Principles    of   Occult   Healing.    By 

Dr.  Mary  Weeks  Burnett 75 


Send  Orders  to 
THEOSOPHICAL   PUBLISHING   HOUSE 

Krotona,  Hollywood,  California 


GLAD  TIDINGS  OF 
THE  DAWN 


A  magazine   devoted  to   Theosophi- 
cal    Ideals    and    Their    Realization. 


Issued  by 

The  Ideal  Publishing  Company 

ANNIE  M.  L.  DeBOER,  Editor 
P.  O.  Box  731,  Los  Angeles,  Cal. 


25  Cents  per  Copy  $1.00  per  Year 

—  142  — 


^UIIIUMIItUIIIIIIIIIIMMUIMIMIIUtMmilHmNIHIIIUilinHIUIIIIIIKniMIMMtlllUnMIUUIMIUUIIinillllUllllllltllllllMlllllllllltlltlllltltllllllllllllllllll!: 


g>alufatt0n  nf  ilj?  ® aunt  I 

Listen  to  the  Salutation  of  the  Dawn! 

Look  to  this  Day 
In  its  brief  course  lie  all  the 

Varieties  and  Realities  of  your  existence 
The  Bliss  of  Growth, 
The  Glory  of  Action, 

The  Splendor  of  Beauty. 
For  yesterday  is  but  a  dream 
And  tomorrow  only  a  vision. 

But  today  well  lived  makes 
Every  yesterday  a  Dream  of  happiness 

And  every  tomorrow  a  Vision  of  Hope. 
Look  well  therefore  to  this  Day; 
For  it  is  Life,  the  very  Life  of  Life. 

Such  is  the  Salutation  of  the  Dawn. 
— From  the  Sanscrit. 


IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIM 


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